Association of ABO Blood Group and Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Ghanaian Population

Blood Group and Response to Bariatric Surgery in Morbidly Obese Patients: A Retrospective Study in Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVES

To explore the relationship between the blood group of patients and their response to bariatric surgery and to identify predictors of better outcomes.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for morbid obesity between 2014 and 2020 at King Saud University Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

RESULTS

This study included 1434 individuals. The mean change in BMI (pre- versus post-BMI) differed statistically significantly between blood groups (p ≤ 0.01). The greatest drop in body weight was seen in individuals with the AB-negative blood type (56.0 (21.4) kg), which corresponds to the greatest percentage of reduction from baseline (47.7% (14.8)). The mean BMI of the patients decreased by 34.7% (9.2) from a mean pre-operation BMI of 45.5 (8.4) kg/m² to 29.7 (6.1) kg/m² (p ≤ 0.001). After laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, male patients and those with the B-negative blood type are more likely to see a greater BMI reduction (pre-operation compared to post-operation) (p ≤ 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

For morbidly obese patients, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy demonstrated promising weight loss outcomes. Blood groups may be able to predict the success rate of bariatric surgery in morbidly obese patients.

Association of the ABO blood group with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a community with low infection rate

Background and objectives

Reports on the association of the ABO phenotypes with infection by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus have mostly come from countries with high infection rates. This study examined the possible association between SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and the ABO phenotype in Black Africa.

Materials and methods

This report is from a single centre where both asymptomatic and symptomatic patients were quarantined. At the time of this report, Oyo State, Nigeria had carried out 15 733 tests of which 3119 were positive for the virus with 1952 recoveries and 37 deaths. The ABO distribution of patients was compared with that of a blood donor population.

Results

Of the 302 participants, 297 (98%) had their blood group determined, asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals were 123 (40·7%) and 179 (59·3%) respectively. Blood group O was significantly less represented among the patients (P < 0·01) while blood groups B and AB were significantly more represented (P < 0·01, P = 0·03 respectively). Patients with anti‐B (groups A and O) were significantly less represented than those without anti‐B (B and/or AB): B and AB (P < 0·001), B (P = 0·002), AB (P = 0·01). There was no difference in the blood group distribution of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients (χ² (3, N = 302) = 2·29; P = 0·51), but symptomatic patients with anti‐A (groups B and O) were more represented than asymptomatic patients with anti‐A (χ² 4·89; P = 0·03).

Conclusion

The higher prevalence of blood group O and more potent beta haemolysins (anti‐B antibodies) are likely reasons for the lower infectivity by the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus and severity of COVID‐19 disease in the community.

Association of ABO blood types and novel obesity markers in healthy adolescents

INTRODUCTION

Association of ABO blood type with body mass index (BMI) was explored in the past studies, but literature on association of novel obesity markerssuch as total body fat and lean body mass (LBM) is scarce. The present study aimed to evaluate the relationship of ABO blood types with novel obesity markers in normal adolescents.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was done on 387 medical students. Bio-impedance analysis (BIA)-derived novel obesity markers such as body fat percent (BFP) and lean body mass (LBM) were recorded. Blood typing was done using slide-agglutination method. Mean and SD were calculated; analysis of variance and Chi-square (χ²) correlation were used to determine the relationship between ABO blood types and obesity markers.

RESULTS

Highest propensity for BFP and LBM was seen in blood groups AB and B (25.09 ± 8.92 and 44.45 ± 6.91) respectively. Highly significant (P < 0.001) differences were observed in the values of BFP and LBM in normal and obese participants across ABO blood types. Prevalence of obesity did not show significant relationship (χ² = 2.069; P = 0.913) with ABO blood types.

CONCLUSIONS

Unlike BMI, novel obesity markers (BFP and LBM) significantly differ across ABO blood groups in normal and obese population. The findings suggest that ABO blood type might have role in determining body composition. This will be helpful in recognition of the participants at the risk of obesity on the basis of their blood groups.