Covid-19 and blood groups: ABO antibody levels may also matter.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Susceptibility to Covid-19 has been found to be associated with the ABO blood group, with O type individuals being at a lower risk. However, the underlying mechanism has not been elucidated. Here, we aimed to test the hypothesis that Covid-19 patients might have lower levels of ABO antibodies than non-infected individuals as they could offer some degree of protection.

METHODS:

After showing that the viral spike protein harbors the ABO glycan epitopes when produced by cells expressing the relevant glycosyltransferases, like upper respiratory tract epithelial cells, we enrolled 290 patients with Covid-19 and 276 asymptomatic controls to compare their levels of natural ABO blood group antibodies.

RESULTS:

We found significantly lower IgM anti-A + anti-B agglutination scores in blood group O patients (76.93 vs 88.29, P-value = 0.034) and lower levels of anti-B (24.93 vs 30.40, P-value = 0.028) and anti-A antibodies (28.56 vs 36.50, P-value = 0.048) in blood group A and blood group B patients, respectively, compared to controls.

CONCLUSION:

In this study, we showed that ABO antibody levels are significantly lower in Covid-19 patients compared to controls. These findings could indicate that patients with low levels of ABO antibodies are at higher risk of being infected.

• Authors: Marie Deleers, Adrien Breiman, Valéry Daubie, Carine Maggetto, Isabelle Barreau, Tatiana Besse, Béatrice Clémenceau, Nathalie Ruvoën-Clouet, Jean-François Fils, Evelyne Maillart, Virginie Doyen, Bhavna Mahadeb, Jacques C Jani, Philippe Van der Linden, Mieke M Cannie, Nabil Hayef, Francis Corazza, Jacques Le Pendu, Hanane El Kenz
• Journal: International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (Int J Infect Dis) Vol. 104 Pg. 242-249 (Mar 2021) ISSN: 1878-3511 [Electronic] Canada
• PMID: 33326874 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• ABO Blood-Group System
• Antibodies
• Epitopes
• Immunoglobulin M
• Polysaccharides
• Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
• spike protein, SARS-CoV-2
• ABO protein, human
• Galactosyltransferases

Topics

• ABO Blood-Group System (immunology)
• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Antibodies (blood)
• COVID-19 (blood, virology)
• Disease Susceptibility
• Epithelial Cells (immunology)
• Epitopes (immunology)
• Female
• Galactosyltransferases
• Humans
• Immunoglobulin M (immunology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Polysaccharides (immunology)
• Risk
• SARS-CoV-2 (immunology)
• Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus (immunology)
• Young Adult