Skip to main content

Blood type and COVID-19

Blood Type Linked with COVID-19 Respiratory Failure 

    Respiratory failure and COVID-19

    Since the first case of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China during late 2019, the virus has rapidly made its way all around the world. In Europe, Spain and Italy were among some of the countries hit hardest with a reported 60,000 coronavirus related deaths by the end of May. The main cause of coronavirus related deaths have been linked to patients who are more susceptible to respiratory failure.  Other factors that put patients at high risk include older age, gender, and other underlying conditions. (See Who's at Risk)

The Experiment    

    To further investigate the relationship between COVID-19 and susceptibility to respiratory failure, Tom Karlsen of the University of Oslo in Norway, conducted a study (posted June 2, currently undergoing peer-review) involving 1,980 patients from five COVID-19 hotspots throughout Spain and Italy. All of these patients experienced severe COVID-19 infections and were hospitalized due to respiratory failure. DNA samples were collected from 775 patients and 950 controls (participants without COVID-19) from Spain and 835 patients and 1,255 controls from Italy. About 8.6 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed to identify the most significant genetic variations that associate with severe respiratory failure after COVID-19 infection.

Results

    The results highlighted two loci (positions on a chromosome where specific gene(s) is located) on chromosomes 3 and 9. On chromosome 3, a cluster of genes were found to be potentially linked to COVID-19. One of these genes, SLC6A20, encodes an amino acid transporter that interacts with ACE2, the main receptor COVID-19 uses to enter human cells. Two other genes in this cluster have been shown to regulate T-cell function during viral infections. T-cells are cells used by the immune system to fight off viruses such as COVID-19.

    The second locus on chromosome 9 was found to be the locus that encodes blood type. Results showed that people with blood type A were at a higher risk for respiratory failure due to COVID-19 while those with blood type O were at a decreased risk. People with blood type A were 1.5 times more likely to be hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms compared to other blood types. People with blood type O had two-thirds the odds of being hospitalized compared to other blood types.


Image of gene cluster locus on chromosome 3 and ABO locus on chromosome 9.

   Conclusion

    The findings of this study show two significant loci related to severe COVID-19 respiratory failure susceptibility. Of the two loci, the ABO locus on chromosome 9 determines blood type. People with blood type A are found to be at an increased risk of respiratory failure while those with blood type O are at a decreased risk of respiratory failure. This project is one of the first steps in evaluating what may be driving COVID-19 and what the genetic associations mean. 

Sources

1. Ellinghaus, David, et al. “The ABO Blood Group Locus and a Chromosome 3 Gene Cluster Associate with SARS-CoV-2 Respiratory Failure in an Italian-Spanish Genome-Wide Association Analysis.” MedRxiv, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2 June 2020, www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.31.20114991v1.article-info.

2. Olena, Abby. “Two Genetic Regions Linked with Severe COVID-19.” The Scientist Magazine®, 8 June 2020, www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/two-genetic-regions-linked-with-severe-covid-19-67619.

3. Robertson, Sally. “Blood Group Type May Affect Susceptibility to COVID-19 Respiratory Failure.” News Medical Life Sciences, 4 June 2020, www.news-medical.net/news/20200603/Blood-group-type-may-affect-susceptibility-to-COVID-19-respiratory-failure.aspx.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Efficacy of Masks

Do Wearing Masks Really Prevent Coronavirus            For weeks, U.S. health authorities discouraged healthy Americans from wearing masks, believing they would do more harm than good. However, other countries such as China and South Korea have required all citizens to wear a mask when entering a public setting to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But really how effective are these masks against the coronavirus? On April 3rd, Nature Medicine published an article describing their findings based off an experiment testing the efficacy of surgical face masks against coronavirus, influenza virus and rhinovirus.   Study Findings      Their results demonstrated that surgical masks were largely effective in reducing coronavirus transmission through respiratory droplets as well as aerosol particles. Three out of ten people who did not wear a mask were infected with the coronavirus through droplet particles. Out of eleven people w...
1 comment
Read more

Breakthrough Infections

 COVID-19 Breakthrough Infections     As of August 2021, a little over 50% of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, despite the increasing number of vaccinated individuals and high efficacy of the vaccines, rare breakthrough cases have occurred. With the reports of breakthrough cases, or instances when people who are fully vaccinated get infected with COVID-19, many questions have arisen. How common are breakthrough infections? What are the symptoms? How severe are the cases? These questions are addressed in a peer-reviewed study investigating breakthrough cases among healthcare workers in Israel. The study was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 28, 2021.  About the Study     The study setting took place in the Sheba Medical Center, which is the largest medical center in Israel staffed with 12,586 healthcare workers. By April 28, 2021, 11,453 workers (91%) had been fully vaccinated with the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Plasma for COVID-19 treatment

FDA Authorizes Plasma for COVID-19 Treatment                     COVID-19, which has been spreading across the globe since March, has affected the lives of Americans for over six months. Many people, including the President, are eager to eliminate the virus after a dreadful 6 months of rising cases and quarantine. To their dismay, hopes of eliminating the virus by Easter and then by August, seemed to turn into an unreachable dream for Americans. With cases rising and no sure vaccine or treatment for the virus, a future without COVID-19 seemed further and further away. Yet, this Sunday on August 23, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the first treatment for COVID-19: convalescent plasma. While the plasma has only been authorized for emergency use, many people see this authorization as progress towards eliminating the virus. However, others believe that the plasma is not as effective, and that the FDA was pres...
Post a Comment
Read more