ABO blood group and gall stone disease

Association between ABO blood groups and osteoporosis severity in Chinese adults aged 50 years and over

This study investigated whether the ABO blood groups contributed to the severity of osteoporosis in 1452 community-dwelling Chinese adults aged 50-85 years. Osteoporosis severity was scored as: F(0), no osteoporosis; F(1), osteopenia; F(2), osteoporosis; and F(3), severe osteoporosis. The proportions of adults with a non-O blood group were 55.0%, 62.0%, 70.8% and 72.6% for the groups with F(0), F(1), F(2) and F(3) osteoporosis scores, respectively. Having a non-O blood group was associated with an increased severity of osteoporosis, even after adjustment for gender, age and cigarette consumption (odds ratio 1.8; 95% confidence interval 1.0, 2.9). This study demonstrated that having a non-O blood group was an independent risk factor for the progression of osteoporosis in Chinese adults with osteoporosis aged ≥ 50 years.

ABO blood groups and achilles tendon rupture in the Grampian Region of Scotland

OBJECTIVE

To test whether the association between blood groups and Achilles tendon rupture (ATR) reported in some Scandinavian countries and in Hungary was present in our region.

METHODS

We studied 78 patients treated at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from 1990 to 1996, and compared their distribution of ABO blood groups with that found in 24.501 blood donors typed at the Blood Transfusion Centre during the same period.

RESULTS

Overall, 47 of 78 (60%) of patients with an Achilles tendon rupture belonged to blood group O, compared with 51% of the population as a whole. Only 22 (28%) of the Achilles tendon rupture patients belonged to blood group A, whereas 35% of the general population were members of this group (NS). The A/O ratio was 0.47 for the tendon rupture patients, compared with 0.68 for the general population (NS).

CONCLUSIONS

We could not demonstrate any significant association between the proportions of ABO blood groups and ATR in the Grampian Region of Scotland. The findings in other studies could be due to peculiarities in the distribution of the ABO groups in genetically segregated populations.