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 agglutin

SUBMITTER: Deleers M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7832075 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature