ABO Blood Type and Personality Traits in Healthy Japanese Subjects

Mobile calculator application for estimating human erythrocyte antigen frequency in Korea

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to establish a comprehensive human erythrocyte antigen (HEA) frequency data set for Koreans. It also sought to develop a mobile app that facilitates the calculation of the frequencies of specific antigen-negative red blood cell units and the average number of units required for antigen typing.

METHODS

Human erythrocyte antigen frequencies were compiled from large-scale blood donor data and 5 previous papers. Based on the collected data, we developed a mobile calculator app for HEA frequency and evaluated its usability.

RESULTS

Human erythrocyte antigen frequency data for 20 blood group systems, including the ABO, Rh, MNS, Duffy, Kidd, and Diego systems, were established. The app was designed to enable users to select the desired phenotype from a drop-down menu and display the calculated frequency at the bottom. The number of units required for antigen typing to find 1 compatible red blood cell unit was also displayed. Five users participated in app evaluation and rated the functionality and information categories highly. In quizzes prompting users to calculate frequencies using the app, all participants provided correct answers, confirming the app's user-friendly functionality.

CONCLUSIONS

This app, which encompasses comprehensive HEA frequency data, is expected to find multiple uses in transfusion medicine, including optimizing blood bank workflow and defining rare blood groups in Korea.

Predictors of amputation in patients with diabetic foot ulcers: a multi-centre retrospective cohort study

PURPOSE

Investigating risk factors for amputation in patients with diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) and developing a nomogram prediction model.

METHODS

We gathered case data of DFU patients from five medical institutions in Anhui Province, China. Following eligibility criteria, a retrospective case-control study was performed on data from 526 patients.

RESULTS

Among the 526 patients (mean age: 63.32 ± 12.14), 179 were female, and 347 were male; 264 underwent amputation. Univariate analysis identified several predictors for amputation, including Blood type-B, Ambulation, history of amputation (Hx. Of amputation), Bacterial culture-positive, Wagner grade, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and laboratory parameters (HbA1c, Hb, CRP, ALB, FIB, PLT, Protein). In the multivariate regression, six variables emerged as independent predictors: Blood type-B (OR = 2.332, 95%CI [1.488-3.657], p < 0.001), Hx. Of amputation (2.298 [1.348-3.917], p = 0.002), Bacterial culture-positive (2.490 [1.618-3.830], p <0.001), Wagner 3 (1.787 [1.049-3.046], p = 0.033), Wagner 4-5 (4.272 [2.444-7.468], p <0.001), PAD (1.554 [1.030-2.345], p = 0.036). We developed a nomogram prediction model utilizing the aforementioned independent risk factors. The model demonstrated a favorable predictive ability for amputation risk, as evidenced by its area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve of 0.756 and the well-fitted corrected nomogram calibration curve.

CONCLUSION

Our findings underscore Blood type-B, Hx. Of amputation, Bacterial culture-positive, Wagner 3-5, and PAD as independent risk factors for amputation in DFU patients. The resultant nomogram exhibits substantial accuracy in predicting amputation occurrence. Timely identification of these risk factors can reduce DFU-related amputation rates.

Prediction model for tibial plateau fracture combined with meniscus injury

Purpose

To investigate a prediction model of meniscus injury in patients with tibial plateau fracture.

Methods

This retrospective study enrolled patients with tibial plateau fractures who were treated in the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2022. Patients were divided into a development cohort and a validation cohort based on the time-lapse validation method. Patients in each cohort were divided into a group with meniscus injury and a group without meniscus injury. Statistical analysis with Student's t-test for continuous variables and chi square test for categorical variables was performed for patients with and without meniscus injury in the development cohort. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to screen the risk factors of tibial plateau combined with meniscal injury, and a clinical prediction model was constructed. Model performance was measured by examining discrimination (Harrell's C-index), calibration (calibration plots), and utility [decision analysis curves (DCA)]. The model was validated internally using bootstrapping and externally by calculating their performance in a validation cohort.

Results

Five hundred patients (313 [62.6%] males, 187 [37.4%] females) with a mean age of 47.7 ± 13.8 years were eligible and were divided into development (n = 262) and validation (n = 238) cohorts. A total of 284 patients had meniscus injury, including 136 in the development cohort and 148 in the validation cohort We identified high-energy injuries as a risk factor (OR = 1.969, 95%CI 1.131-3.427). Compared with blood type A, patients with blood type B were more likely to experience tibial plateau fracture with meniscus injury (OR = 2.967, 95%CI 1.531-5.748), and office work was a protective factor (OR = 0.279, 95%CI 0.126-0.618). The C-index of the overall survival model was 0.687 (95% CI, 0.623-0.751). Similar C-indices were obtained for external validation [0.700(0.631-0.768)] and internal validation [0.639 (0.638-0.643)]. The model was adequately calibrated and its predictions correlated with the observed outcomes. The DCA curve showed that the model had the best clinical validity when the threshold probability was 0.40 and 0.82.

Conclusions

Patients with blood type B and high-energy injuries are more likely to have meniscal injury. This may help in clinical trial design and individual clinical decision-making.

Deep Learning Algorithms for Estimation of Demographic and Anthropometric Features from Electrocardiograms

The electrocardiogram (ECG) has been known to be affected by demographic and anthropometric factors. This study aimed to develop deep learning models to predict the subject's age, sex, ABO blood type, and body mass index (BMI) based on ECGs. This retrospective study included individuals aged 18 years or older who visited a tertiary referral center with ECGs acquired from October 2010 to February 2020. Using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with three convolutional layers, five kernel sizes, and two pooling sizes, we developed both classification and regression models. We verified a classification model to be applicable for age (<40 years vs. ≥40 years), sex (male vs. female), BMI (<25 kg/m² vs. ≥25 kg/m²), and ABO blood type. A regression model was also developed and validated for age and BMI estimation. A total of 124,415 ECGs (1 ECG per subject) were included. The dataset was constructed by dividing the entire set of ECGs at a ratio of 4:3:3. In the classification task, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC), which represents a quantitative indicator of the judgment threshold, was used as the primary outcome. The mean absolute error (MAE), which represents the difference between the observed and estimated values, was used in the regression task. For age estimation, the CNN achieved an AUROC of 0.923 with an accuracy of 82.97%, and a MAE of 8.410. For sex estimation, the AUROC was 0.947 with an accuracy of 86.82%. For BMI estimation, the AUROC was 0.765 with an accuracy of 69.89%, and a MAE of 2.332. For ABO blood type estimation, the CNN showed an inferior performance, with a top-1 accuracy of 31.98%. For the ABO blood type estimation, the CNN showed an inferior performance, with a top-1 accuracy of 31.98% (95% CI, 31.98-31.98%). Our model could be adapted to estimate individuals' demographic and anthropometric features from their ECGs; this would enable the development of physiologic biomarkers that can better reflect their health status than chronological age.

Non-A Blood Type Is a Risk Factor for Poor Cardio-Cerebrovascular Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Dialysis

The clinical impact of ABO blood type on cardio-cerebrovascular outcomes in patients undergoing dialysis has not been clarified. A total of 365 hemodialysis patients participated in the current study. The primary endpoint was defined as a composite including cardio-cerebrovascular events and cardio-cerebrovascular death. The primary endpoint was observed in 73 patients during a median follow-up period of 1182 days, including 16/149 (11%) with blood type A, 22/81 (27%) with blood type B, 26/99 (26%) with blood type O, and 9/36 (25%) with blood type AB. At baseline, no difference was found in the echocardiographic parameters. Multivariable Cox regression analyses revealed that blood type (type A vs. non-A type; hazard ratio (HR): 0.46, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.26-0.81, p = 0.007), age (per 10-year increase; HR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.18-1.84), antiplatelet or anticoagulation therapy (HR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.07-3.41), LVEF (per 10% increase; HR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.63-0.96), and LV mass index (per 10 g/m² increase; HR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01-1.13) were the independent determinants of the primary endpoint. Kaplan-Meier curves also showed a higher incidence of the primary endpoint in the non-A type than type A (Log-rank p = 0.001). Dialysis patients with blood type A developed cardio-cerebrovascular events more frequently than non-A type patients.

Is there an association between ABO blood types and depressive symptoms among Japanese healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic?

ABO blood types could be a biological predisposition for depression. The present cross-sectional analysis was conducted amid the second wave of COVID-19 in Japan during July 2020. We wanted to investigate the association between ABO blood types and depressive symptoms among workers (352 men and 864 women, aged 21-73 years) of a medical institution in Tokyo, Japan, which took a leading role in the response to COVID-19 in the country. A Poisson regression model with a robust variance estimator was used to estimate the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for depressive symptoms associated with ABO blood types. Overall, the prevalence of depressive symptoms (using two questions employed from a Two-question case-finding instrument) was 22.0%. The adjusted PRs (95% CI) for depressive symptoms, comparing the carriers of blood type O, A, and AB with those of type B, were 0.88 (0.66, 1.18), 0.81 (0.62, 1.07), and 1.07 (0.74, 1.53), respectively. There was no difference in the prevalence of depressive symptoms between non-B and B carriers. The present study did not support the association of ABO blood types with depressive symptoms.

Genomic Association vs. Serological Determination of ABO Blood Types in a Chinese Cohort, with Application in Mendelian Randomization

ABO blood system is an inborn trait determined by the ABO gene. The genetic-phenotypic mechanism underneath the four mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive types of O, A, B and AB could theoretically be elucidated. However, genetic polymorphisms in the human populations render the link elusive, and importantly, past studies using genetically determined rather than biochemically determined ABO types were not and could not be evaluated for the inference errors. Upon both blood-typing and genotyping a cohort of 1008 people of the Han Chinese population, we conducted a genome-wide association study in parallel with both binomial and multinomial log-linear models. Significant genetic variants are all mapped to the ABO gene, and are quantitatively evaluated for binary and multi-class classification performances. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms of rs8176719, rs635634 and rs7030248 would together be sufficient to establish a multinomial predictive model that achieves high accuracy (0.98) and F1 scores (micro 0.99 and macro 0.97). Using the set of identified ABO-associated genetic variants as instrumental variables, we demonstrate the application in causal analysis by Mendelian randomization (MR) studies on blood pressures (one-sample MR) and severe COVID-19 with respiratory failure (two-sample MR).

Inflammatory indicator levels in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement via median sternotomy with preoperative anxiety and postoperative complications: a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE

This study was performed to evaluate the association of preoperative anxiety with inflammatory indicators and postoperative complications in patients undergoing scheduled aortic valve replacement surgery.

METHODS

A prospective cohort study was performed. The Hamilton Anxiety Scale was used to assess preoperative anxiety. The serum white blood cell (WBC) count and concentrations of C-reactive protein, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 were measured 1 day preoperatively and 3 and 7 days postoperatively. Postoperative complications were also recorded.

RESULTS

Seventy-three patients were included. The incidence of preoperative anxiety was 30.1% (22/73). The payment source was the only independent risk factor for preoperative anxiety. The incidence of postoperative complications was lowest in the mild anxiety group. The WBC count 3 days postoperatively was significantly lower in the mild than moderate-severe anxiety group. The IL-8 concentration 1 day preoperatively was highest in the no anxiety group.

CONCLUSIONS

Mild preoperative anxiety might help to improve clinical outcomes. However, further investigations with more patients are warranted. Patients with different degrees of anxiety may have different levels of inflammatory cytokines.

Comprehensive Glycomic Approach Reveals Novel Low-Molecular-Weight Blood Group-Specific Glycans in Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid

ABO blood antigens on the human red blood cell membrane as well as different cells in various human tissues have been thoroughly studied. Anti-A and -B antibodies of IgM are present in serum/plasma, but blood group-specific glyco-antigens have not been extensively described. In this study, we performed comprehensive and quantitative serum glycomic analyses of various glycoconjugates and free oligosaccharides in all blood groups. Our comprehensive glycomic approach revealed that blood group-specific antigens in serum/plasma are predominantly present on glycosphingolipids on lipoproteins rather than glycoproteins. Expression of the ABO antigens on glycosphingolipids depends not only on blood type but also on secretor status. Blood group-specific glycans in serum/plasma were classified as type I, whereas those on RBCs had different structures including hexose and hexosamine residues. Analysis of free oligosaccharides revealed that low-molecular-weight blood group-specific glycans, commonly containing lacto-N-difucotetraose, were expressed in serum/plasma according to blood group. Furthermore, comprehensive glycomic analysis in human cerebrospinal fluid showed that many kinds of free oligosaccharides were highly expressed, and low-molecular-weight blood group-specific glycans, which existed in plasma from the same individuals, were present. Our findings provide the first evidence for low-molecular-weight blood group-specific glycans in both serum/plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.

ABO B gene is associated with introversion personality tendancies through linkage with dopamine beta hydroxylase gene

Although personality is thought to be 50% heritable, consensus has not been reached about the specific genes involved, interest in genes affecting personality and behavior continues because of the linkage of personality traits with both physical and mental illness. One hundred and twenty years of study of the ABO blood types and the genes causing them has led to more precise assignment of genotype-phenotype linkage. Countries like Japan and Korea with 100 years history of study of ABO blood groups and personality as well as other countries have published research with no consensus. Introversion is a well-studied personality trait with 50% genetic causation. Dopamine system has been linked to the introversion-extroversion spectrum with high dopamine linked to introversion. Dopamine beta hydroxylase determines the ratio of dopamine to norepinephrine. Dopamine beta hydroxylase gene, DBH, is in linkage disequilibrium with ABO gene thus offering insight into the ABO findings related to personality traits. ABO blood groups have been studied with some but not all studies finding type AB associated with introversion. One explanation for the inconsistent replication of findings could be that genotypes would show more differences than phenotypes. ABO A allele, ABO B allele or the synergism of both alleles could be the driver of introversion trait in ABO AB. Patients in an obstetric gynecology practice appeared to demonstrate a tendancy to introversion in phenotype ABO B. Since we had access to ABO blood phenotypes instead of genotypes of our obstetric gynecology office patients, we hypothesized that phenotype ABO AB when compared with ABO O would be associated with higher introversion since these phenotypes were also genotypes and since ABO O unlike ABO AB is not found associated with introversion in extant research. Though ABO B allele was observed to be the likely cause of introversion in patients and since we had available only phenotypes of ABO to use in search of genetic allele that causes introversion trait, ABO AB needs to be dissected to see whether ABO A allele or ABO B allele is the driver of the introspective trait. Based on the literature and on observation, the hypothesis was that ABO B is the driver of introversion trait. A pilot student of 225 obstetric gynecology patients using the online NPA personality test showed higher scores for introversion tendancies in ABO AB compared to ABO O and when ABO AB was compared to ABO A. This supports ABO B as the driver of introversion tendancies in the ABO gene. Studies using ABO genotypes instead of ABO phenotypes should provide further support for this hypothesis. Given the support for introversion tendancies in personality caused by higher dopamine genetically with dopamine beta hydroxylase low activity and this dopamine state being common mechanism for such conditions as schizophrenia and autism, continued discoveries of genes that impact this state will lead to many health implications.

A proposed method for handling an imbalance data in classification of blood type based on Myers-Briggs type indicator

Blood type still leads to an assumption about its relation to some personality aspects. This study observes preprocessing methods for improving the classification accuracy of MBTI data to determine blood type. The training and testing data use 250 data from the MBTI questionnaire answers given by 250 respondents. The classification uses the k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) algorithm. Without preprocessing, k-NN results in about 32 % accuracy, so it needs some preprocessing to handle data imbalance before the classification. The proposed preprocessing consists of two-stage, the first stage is the unsupervised resample, and the second is the supervised resample. For the validation, it uses ten cross-validations. The result of k-Nearest Neighbor classification after using these proposed preprocessing stages has finally increased the accuracy, F-score, and recall significantly.

Allelic distribution of ABO gene in Chinese centenarians

Objective

Human ABO blood groups are determined by the alleles A, B, and O (O01 and O02) of the ABO gene and have been linked to the risks for cardiovascular diseases and cancers that affect lifespan.

We examined the genetic associations of the ABO gene and blood groups with longevity.

Methods

We inspected the frequencies of the A, B, O, and O02 alleles in a large Chinese centenarian population (n = 2201) and in middle‐aged controls (n = 2330). The single nucleotide polymorphisms were selected as allele A (rs507666), B (rs8176743, rs8176746, and rs8176749), O (rs687289), and O02 (rs688976, rs549446, and rs512770).

Results

Supported by allelic and genotypic association studies, the frequencies of blood types A, B, O, and AB in centenarian versus control participants were not statistically different: 0.2821 versus 0.2781 (χ² = 0.09, P = 0.76), 0.2867 versus 0.3060 (χ² = 2.03, P = 0.15), 0.3380 versus 0.3159 (χ² = 2.52, P = 0.11), and 0.0859 versus 0.0910 (χ² = 0.37, P = 0.54), respectively. Sex had little effect on these distributions.

Conclusion

Integrated with other previous reports, we conclude from this large Chinese cohort that genetic variants of the ABO gene and blood groups are not associated with longevity.

Association of FUT2 and ABO with Crohn's disease in Koreans

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Fucosyltransferase 2 (FUT2) at 19q13 is a well-established susceptibility locus for Crohn's disease (CD) in Caucasians. FUT2 encodes α-1,2-fucosyltransferase that regulates the secretion of the α-1-2-N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase and α-1-3-galactosyltransferase (ABO) antigens in both the gastrointestinal mucosa and secretory glands. Given that CD is thought to arise from dysregulated mucosal immune responses to the gut flora and both the ABO blood group and the FUT2 secretor status affect the composition of the gut microbiota, the goal of this study was to evaluate the associations of variants of FUT2 and ABO with CD in Koreans.

METHODS

Three single-nucleotide polymorphisms from the FUT2 and ABO genes were genotyped in 1735 patients with CD and 8074 healthy controls.

RESULTS

The FUT2 non-secretor allele showed genome-wide significant association with CD in Koreans (rs1047781, odds ratio [OR] = 1.30, Pcombined  = 3.52 × 10-12 ). The ABO locus showed genome-wide significant association with CD in Asians (Pmeta  = 2.35 × 10-8 ). A moderate association was observed with the A and B groups (OR = 1.40, P = 2.26 × 10-6 ; and OR = 1.32, P = 1.92 × 10-4 , respectively) compared with the O group. Following stratification on the basis of FUT2 genotype, carriers of the secretor O blood group were significantly protective against CD than were those of the secretor non-O blood group (OR = 0.63, 95% confidence interval = 0.54-0.73, P = 2.86 × 10-9 ).

CONCLUSIONS

These are the first results indicating that the O blood group and FUT2 secretor status are protective factors against CD in Asians.

ABO Genotype Does Not Modify the Association between the "Blood-Type" Diet and Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Disease in Overweight Adults

Background

Although 7 million copies of Eat Right 4 Your Type have been sold in >60 languages, there has been a lack of evidence supporting the "blood-type" diet hypothesis.

Objective

The present study aimed to examine the validity of this diet in overweight adults.

Methods

A total of 973 adults [mean ± SEM age: 44.6 ± 0.4 y; mean ± SEM body mass index (BMI; kg/m2): 32.5 ± 0.2; 758 women, 215 men] were participants of the Toronto Healthy Diet Study. A 1-mo, 196-item food-frequency questionnaire was used to determine dietary intakes before and after a 6-mo dietary intervention. Diet scores were calculated to determine relative adherence to each of the 4 blood-type diets as a secondary analysis. ABO blood group was determined by genotyping rs8176719 and rs8176746. ANCOVA was used to compare cardiometabolic risk factors across tertiles of diet scores.

Results

At baseline, individuals with a higher adherence score to the type A diet had lower diastolic blood pressure (tertile 3 compared with tertile 1: 70.9 ± 1.1 compared with 73.3 ± 1.1 mm Hg; P < 0.01). Lower waist circumference was observed in individuals with higher adherence to the type B (tertile 3 compared with tertile 1: 100.8 ± 1.8 compared with 105.4 ± 1.7 cm; P < 0.01) and type AB (tertile 3 compared with tertile 1: 101.2 ± 1.8 compared with 104.8 ± 1.7 cm; P < 0.01) diets. After a 6-mo dietary intervention, individuals with increased adherence to the type A and type B diets had greater reductions in BMI and waist circumference, respectively (P < 0.01). Individuals with an increase in type O diet adherence showed decreases in both BMI and waist circumference (P < 0.01). However, matching the diets with the corresponding ABO genotype of each individual did not change the effect size of any of these associations either at baseline or at 6 mo.

Conclusions

ABO genotype does not modify any association between blood-type diets and biomarkers of cardiometabolic disease in overweight adults, suggesting that the theory behind this diet is not valid This study was based on the data of a trial that was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00516620.

ABO blood groups and psychiatric disorders: a Croatian study

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of ABO alleles is different in different populations, and many studies have shown a correlation between the occurrences of some diseases and different genotypes of ABO blood groups. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a significant association between psychiatric syndromes and ABO blood groups.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This case-control study involved 156 psychiatric patients and 303 healthy, unrelated, voluntary blood donors. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood on a QIAcube device using a QIAamp DNA Blood mini QIAcube kit. ABO genotyping on five basic ABO alleles was performed using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy subjects, a significantly higher proportion of psychiatric patients had AB blood group (χ²=9.359, df=3, p=0.025) and, accordingly, a significantly higher incidence of A1B genotype (χ²=8.226, df=3, p=0.042). The odds ratio showed that psychiatric disorders occur almost three times more frequently in carriers of AB group compared to other blood groups. However, no statistically significant difference was found in the distribution of ABO blood groups among patients with different psychiatric diagnoses. Likewise, no correlations were found between ABO blood groups and other characteristics of the psychiatric patients (sex, psychiatric heredity, somatic comorbidity, suicidality).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study support the hypothesis of an association between psychiatric disorders and ABO blood groups. The probability is that psychiatric disorders will occur almost three times more frequently in carriers of AB group compared to other ABO blood groups in the Croatian population.

Affective immunology: where emotions and the immune response converge

Affect and emotion are defined as “an essential part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli.” Similar to affect, the immune response is the “tool” the body uses to interact with the external environment. Thanks to the emotional and immunological response, we learn to distinguish between what we like and what we do not like, to counteract a broad range of challenges, and to adjust to the environment we are living in. Recent compelling evidence has shown that the emotional and immunological systems share more than a similarity of functions. This review article will discuss the crosstalk between these two systems and the need for a new scientific area of research called affective immunology. Research in this field will allow a better understanding and appreciation of the immunological basis of mental disorders and the emotional side of immune diseases.

Affective immunology: where emotions and the immune response converge

Affect and emotion are defined as "an essential part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli." Similar to affect, the immune response is the "tool" the body uses to interact with the external environment. Thanks to the emotional and immunological response, we learn to distinguish between what we like and what we do not like, to counteract a broad range of challenges, and to adjust to the environment we are living in. Recent compelling evidence has shown that the emotional and immunological systems share more than a similarity of functions. This review article will discuss the crosstalk between these two systems and the need for a new scientific area of research called affective immunology. Research in this field will allow a better understanding and appreciation of the immunological basis of mental disorders and the emotional side of immune diseases.