UNASSIGNED: There is increasing evidence suggesting that ABO blood type may play a role in the immunopathogenesis of COVID-19 infection. In addition to ABO blood type, the Rhesus (Rh) factor has also been implicated in various disease processes. Therefore, our study aimed to assess the association between both ABO and Rh blood types in critically ill patients with COVID-19 and their clinical outcomes.
UNASSIGNED: A multicenter retrospective cohort study conducted in Saudi Arabia between March 1, 2020, and July 31, 2021, involving adult COVID-19 patients admitted to Intensive Care Units, aimed to explore potential associations between rhesus blood group types (Positive versus Negative) and clinical outcomes. The primary endpoint assessed was the hospital length of stay (LOS). Other endpoints were considered secondary.
UNASSIGNED: After propensity score matching (3:1 ratio), 212 patients were included in the final analysis. The hospital length of stay was longer in a negative Rh blood group compared with patients in the Rh-positive group (beta coefficient 0.26 (0.02, 0.51), p = 0.03). However, neither 30-day mortality (HR 0.28; 95% CI 0.47, 1.25, p = 0.28) nor in-hospital mortality (HR 0.74; 95% CI 0.48, 1.14, p = 0.17) reached statistical significance. Additionally, among the different ABO types, the A+ blood group exhibited a higher proportion of thrombosis/infarction and in-hospital mortality (28.1% and 31.2%, respectively).
UNASSIGNED: This study highlights the potential impact of blood group type on the prognosis of critically ill patients with COVID-19. It has been observed that patients with a negative Rh blood group type tend to have a longer hospital stay, while their mortality rates and complications during ICU stay are similar to the patients with a Rh-positive group.

BACKGROUND:  Saudi Arabia has a higher rate of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) than most other countries. There is a paucity of data on the risk factors for GDM, particularly positive screening for diabetes in the initial period of pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE:  The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of confirmed GDM in pregnant women who initially screened positive for GDM, as well as to identify its association with age, nationality, and clinical risk factors.
METHODS:  This case-control study was conducted retrospectively at a tertiary referral center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It included pregnant women who were referred between January 2019 and December 2022 after having tested positive on a 50 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). They subsequently underwent a 75 g or 100 g confirmatory OGTT at our center. The sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of those with confirmed GDM (cases) and those with negative confirmatory OGTT (controls) were compared.
RESULTS:  The majority of participants (75.4%) had confirmed GDM. However, there were no significant differences between cases and controls with regard to age, nationality, or clinical or pregnancy-related factors. Of note, the cohort was characterized by high gravidity and high parity, which may indicate susceptibility to GDM.
CONCLUSIONS:  The study findings support the usefulness of the 50 g OGTT for the screening of pregnant women at high risk for GDM. In addition, high gravidity and parity may also be risk factors for GDM, warranting closer monitoring for GDM and further research in a high-natality population such as that of Saudi Arabia.

Protein level of Histo-Blood Group ABO System Transferase (BGAT) has been reported to be associated with cardiometabolic diseases. But its effect on pregnancy related outcomes still remains unclear. Here we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to ascertain the putative causal roles of protein levels of BGAT in pregnancy related outcomes. Cis-acting protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs) robustly associated with protein level of BGAT (P < 5 ×10-8) were used as instruments to proxy the BGAT protein level (N = 35,559, data from deCODE), with two additional pQTL datasets from Fenland (N = 10,708) and INTERVAL (N = 3301) used as validation exposures. Ten pregnancy related diseases and complications were selected as outcomes. We observed that a higher protein level of BGAT showed a putative causal effect on venous complications and haemorrhoids in pregnancy (VH) (odds ratio [OR]=1.19, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]=1.12-1.27, colocalization probability=91%), which was validated by using pQTLs from Fenland and INTERVAL. The Mendelian randomization results further showed effects of the BGAT protein on gestational hypertension (GH) (OR=0.97, 95% CI=0.96-0.99), despite little colocalization evidence to support it. Sensitivity analyses, including proteome-wide Mendelian randomization of the cis-acting BGAT pQTLs, showed little evidence of horizontal pleiotropy. Correctively, our study prioritised BGAT as a putative causal protein for venous complications and haemorrhoids in pregnancy. Future epidemiology and clinical studies are needed to investigate whether BGAT can be considered as a drug target to prevent adverse pregnancy outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The ABO blood group has long been recognized as a significant factor influencing susceptibility to infectious diseases. Numerous studies have explored the links between ABO blood types and both the likelihood of contracting COVID-19 and the severity of the infection, yielding conflicting results.
OBJECTIVE: This study intends to determine the influence of age, gender, the ABO blood group, and Rh factor on the potential development of COVID-19 infection.
METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational study collected data including age, gender, the ABO blood group, and Rh factor from 80 healthcare professionals at R. R. Dental College and Hospital in Udaipur with a positive history of COVID-19 infection via Google Forms (Google LLC, Mountain View, California, United States). Chi-square statistics assessed the distribution of blood types and antibodies within the samples. Odds ratio (OR) assays were used to assess the probability of a certain blood type or Rh factor with version 21.0 of the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY).
RESULTS: In this study, the blood group type O was 45.2% (n = 33), type A was 21.9% (n = 16), type B was 24.7% (n = 18), and type AB was 8.2% (n = 6). Rh-positive samples were 87.7% (n = 64) and Rh-negative samples were 12.3% (n = 9). There was a statistically significant correlation between Type A (p = 0.001) and Type O (p = 0.049). Thirty-one participants (42.5%) were aged 20-30 years, 26 (35.6%) were aged 31-40 years, and 16 (21.9%) were aged 41-50 years. The statistical analysis revealed no statistically significant distinction among the age groups (p > 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The patients\' gender, age, and concurrent disorders are crucial risk variables that determine the severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. There is growing data indicating that the ABO blood group has a significant role in disease biology at physiological and biochemical levels. Hence, this study adds valuable information to strengthen and establish the potential role of factors, such as age and gender, in the possible pathogenicity of COVID-19 infection.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) and ABO, Rh-D, and Kell blood systems among blood donors.
METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 10,095 donors who visited the Blood Bank at Asir Hospital, Abha, Saudi Arabia. Data including demographic information, ABO, Rh-D, and Kell blood groups, and serological and molecular test results of TTIs (the TTIs were obtained from each donor\'s records). Chi-squared and Fisher\'s exact tests were employed to establish possible associations between blood groups and TTIs.
RESULTS: The prevalence rate of TTIs among donors was 6.3%, with HBcAb (70%) being the most prevalent biomarker among positive donors. Donors with the O blood group were at a higher risk of contracting TTIs. Significant associations were observed between HIV and blood group A (χ2=6.30, p=0.01), HBsAg and group AB (χ2=17.3193, p=0.00003), malaria and group A (χ2=5.0567, p=0.02), and HBV-DNA and group AB (χ2=12.3163, p=0.0004). Also, Kell blood group was significantly associated with HIV (χ2=14.5, p=0.0001), HBcAb (χ2=78.51, p<0.0001), and syphilis (χ2=25.225, p<0.00001).
CONCLUSIONS: ABO and Kell blood groups are associated with TTI markers. These findings highlight the need for improved strategies and approaches in screening and managing blood donations to minimize the risk of TTIs.

UNASSIGNED: There are preliminary studies about the association between COVID-19 and ABO phenotypes and the results are controversial. There are only two studies which investigated the association of Rh blood groups in addition to ABO with COVID-19; however, in the statistical analysis ABO and Rh blood groups have been considered separately. Therefore, the present case-control study was performed to determine the association of COVID-19 with ABO blood groups considering the Rh blood groups simultaneously. The study was conducted in Kunduz COVID-19 treatment specific center, Spin-Zar Hospital (Kunduz Province, North East Afghanistan). A total of 301 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1039 healthy blood donors as control group were included in the study.
UNASSIGNED: The Rh- phenotype strongly increased the risk of COVID-19 (OR = 2.97, 95% CI 1.86-3.89, P < 0.001). Although blood group A increased the risk of developing COVID-19, the association did not reach statistical significance. In analysis of the combination phenotypes, the A- blood group remarkably increased the risk of COVID-19 (OR = 7.24, 95% CI 3.62-14.4, P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the interaction of Rh and ABO is significant (P < 0.013).
UNASSIGNED: These findings indicate that susceptibility to COVID-19 is strongly associated with A- blood group.

UNASSIGNED: To retrospectively evaluate the distribution of ABO and RhD blood groups and their relationship with diseases.
UNASSIGNED: The retrospective study was carried out in Bursa Uludag University Family Health Center in Turkey between 1-28 February, 2023. The data of individuals who were registered with the Family Health Center and whose blood types were known were evaluated retrospectively. Blood group type, sociodemographic findings, existing diseases, allergies, and genetic disease conditions were obtained. P-values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Analysis were made in the SPSS 25.0 program.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 3834 people, 1935 male (50.5%) and 1899 female (49.5%) participated in the study. The mean age of the individuals was 26.45±10.45 years. About 75.8 percent of the participants were university students, 6.3 percent were health workers, and 17.9 percent were from other occupational groups. The rates of blood groups were determined as O Rh D+ at 33.5%, AB Rh D+ at 26.9%, A Rh D+ at 14.9%, AB Rh D- at 7.7%, B Rh D+ at 7%, O Rh D- at 4.6%, B Rh D- at 3.2% and A Rh D- at 2.2%. It was determined that the O Rh D- group had a higher rate of genetic disease than the other groups (p=0.01).
UNASSIGNED: It was determined that the O Rh D+ blood group was found more frequently in our region\'s population than in other groups. This different result depending on the A Rh D+ blood group, which is the most common throughout the country may have reflected the influence of different geographical regions and ethnic characteristics due to the students in our population. In addition, the results regarding the relationships between blood groups and occupation, genetics, existing disease, presence of allergies, and visual defects in the eye are important.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the distribution of ABO and Rh (D) blood group phenotypes among blood donors.
METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study enrolled blood donors whose socio-demographic and blood group phenotype data were collected from blood bank donor records. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the number and percentage distribution of categorical variables. To determine if the distributions of the ABO and Rh phenotypes differed, a chi-square test was employed.
RESULTS: Of 14,887 blood donors with a median age of 20 years (interquartile range = 18-30 years), 72.8% were males, and young donors (age range = 18-24 years) accounted for 61.7%. Group O (45.6%) was the most prevalent ABO blood phenotype, followed by A (29.5%), B (20.2%), and AB (4.7%). The dominant blood group was O positive (42.4%), followed by A positive (27.4%), B positive (18.9%), AB positive (4.3%), O negative (3.2%), A negative (2.1%), B negative (1.3%), and AB negative (0.4%). The overall Rh (D)-negative distribution rate was 7.0%.
CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that blood group O was the most common ABO phenotype, followed by A, B, and AB. Overall, 93.0% of the donors were Rh (D)-positive. These findings may help guide blood transfusion programmes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential association between ABO blood groups and intrauterine fetal growth restriction (IUGR) among pregnant women who delivered at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study analyzed the medical records of pregnant women who delivered at KAUH and had postnatal follow-up visits. Missing data were completed by conducting phone interviews with patients.
RESULTS: A total of 436 patients with a mean age of 31.2±5.5 years were included in the study. 50.7% of the women had blood type O, 28.4% had blood type A, 16.5% had blood type B, and 4.4% had blood type AB. The majority (94.7%) tested positive for the Rhesus antigen. Although statistically significant, women with blood groups AB and B exhibited higher rates of IUGR (31.6%, and 27.8%, respectively) compared to those with blood groups A and O, who had lower rates of IUGR (26.6%, and 24%, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: Our study results showed that women with blood groups AB and B had slightly higher rates of IUGR than those with A and O, who had lower rates of IUGR. A larger study comparing blood group O to other groups may provide more insight into the relationship between ABO blood groups and IUGR.

BACKGROUND: Safe transfusion therapy requires accurate testing of blood donors and recipients to determine their ABO blood group compatibility. Genotyping does not always clarify serological blood typing discrepancies and conventional PCR methods are not suitable to identify ABO haplotypes. Therefore, an allele-specific long-range sequencing-based typing method was established.
METHODS: Study samples (n = 100) and six patient samples were ABO phenotyped and screened for specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the ABO gene. Based on identified heterozygous SNPs in intron 1 (12897G>A), 2 (437C>T) or 4 (102C>A, 1511G>T) both ABO alleles were investigated separately using a high-fidelity long-range PCR system and Sanger sequencing. The alleles were correlated to the ABO phenotypes determined.
RESULTS: Direct sequencing of allelic PCR products up to 6743 bases has been successful in discriminating common combinations of the ABO*A1.01, ABO*A2.01, ABO*B.01, ABO*O.01.01, ABO*O.01.02 and ABO*O.02.01 alleles. 10 out of 64 haplotypes were found to be not previously described. The uncommon ABO*AW.31.01 and the unusual O alleles ABO*O.05 and ABO*O.02.03 alleles were detected in patient samples, resolving the initial inconclusive serologic ABO typing results.
CONCLUSIONS: This method is an effective tool for analyzing ABO haplotypes. Applicable for ABO molecular diagnostics and immunohematology research it may help to improve pre-transfusion blood type testing.