Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Blood groups and the Rh factor are involved in several pathologies. Some studies have also identified them as risk factors for diabetes. The objective of this work is to evaluate the possible association between ABO blood groups, rhesus (Positive, Negative) and the risk of diabetes.

Patients and methods: This is a case-control study involving 257 diabetic patients followed in the hygiene department and 266 controls followed at Sidi Othmane Hospital. Blood groups were taken from medical records and blood glucose was determined. Statistical analysis is performed using SPSS software 23.

Results: 523 subjects were included in this study, of whom 71.2% are women and 28.8% are men with an average age of 50.62±14.93. The mean fasting blood glucose level was 1.57±0.78 in diabetic subjects and 1.01±0.11 g/l in controls. The distribution frequency of group O in the population is 45.5%, while that of non-O (A, B and AB) is 54.5% with (31.4% of group A, 5% of the AB group and 16.6% of the B group). The distribution of ABO blood groups in diabetics by sex (women vs men) is respectively A (73.3% vs 26.7%), AB (81.2% vs 18.8%), B (83, 8% vs. 16.2%) and O (82.2% and 17.8%). On the other hand, among controls, it is 65.2% vs 34.8% for group A, 77.8% vs 22.2% for AB, 78% vs 22% for B and 51.4% and 48.8%, 6%) for O. 94.4% of the control population and 91.1% of the diabetic population consisted of Rh+. Analysis of the association between diabetes and blood group O and non-O revealed a low but significant correlation (r=0.093, P=0.034, OR =1.452, CI =1.027–2.051), with an effect protective agent for blood group O (OR =0.861, CI =0.676–0.986) and a pejorative effect for non-O blood groups (OR =1.185, CI =1.185–1.388) and with a significant difference by female gender. In addition, no association was observed between diabetes and Rhesus factor (P=0.098).

Conclusion: Our study showed a slight association between blood group O and the risk of diabetes probably related to the female sex. Further studies are needed to support it.

Keywords: ABO blood groups, Rhesus, diabetes