The Effect of ABO Blood Groups, Hemoglobinopathy, and Heme Oxygenase-1 Polymorphisms on Malaria Susceptibility and Severity

Abstract

Malaria is one of the most important public health problems in tropical areas on the globe. Several factors are associated with susceptibility to malaria and disease severity, including innate immunity such as blood group, hemoglobinopathy, and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) polymorphisms. This study was carried out to investigate association among ABO blood group, thalassemia types and HO-1 polymorphisms in malaria. The malarial blood samples were collected from patients along the Thai-Myanmar border. Determination of ABO blood group, thalassemia variants, and HO-1 polymorphisms were performed using agglutination test, low pressure liquid chromatography and polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Plasmodium vivax was the major infected malaria species in the study samples. Distribution of ABO blood type in the malaria-infected samples was similar to that in healthy subjects, of which blood type O being most prevalent. Association between blood group A and decreased risk of severe malaria was significant. Six thalassemia types (30%) were detected, i.e., hemoglobin E (HbE), β-thalassemia, α-thalassemia 1, α-thalassemia 2, HbE with α-thalassemia 2, and β-thalassemia with α-thalassemia 2. Malaria infected samples without thalassemia showed significantly higher risk to severe malaria. The prevalence of HO-1 polymorphisms, S/S, S/L and L/L were 25, 62, and 13%, respectively. Further study with larger sample size is required to confirm the impact of these 3 host genetic factors in malaria patients.

Effects of IgG and IgM autoantibodies on non-infected erythrocytes is related to ABO blood group in Plasmodium vivax malaria and is associated with anemia

“…Our results are in accordance with a few previous studies [9, 10]. Resende et al genotyped five single nucleotide polymorphisms at the ABO gene of Brazilian Amazon patients and associated this information to hematological data, showing a relationship between blood group O and increased susceptibility to anemia in P. vivax infection [9].…”

“…Resende et al genotyped five single nucleotide polymorphisms at the ABO gene of Brazilian Amazon patients and associated this information to hematological data, showing a relationship between blood group O and increased susceptibility to anemia in P. vivax infection [9]. A similar result was also found by Kuesap & Na-Bangchang that associated parasitemia and blood parameters indicative of anemia to ABO blood group in patients along Thailand and Myanmar [10]. Besides finding similar results, here we provide additional information highlighting in vitro mechanistic evidence in favor of a higher susceptibility to anemia in P. vivax -infected patients from blood group O.…”

“…It has been demonstrated that the ABO blood group system may be associated with severe disease in P. falciparum infections, being individuals with A phenotype at a higher risk to develop severe illness while those with type O erythrocytes are more likely protected [6-8]. On the other hand, an association between ABO system and P. vivax infection has not been clearly defined and a few studies conducted in this field reveal that hemoglobin levels are lower in blood type O individuals, who are more likely to develop anemia [9, 10]. Taking into account the above-mentioned and our ability to study in vitro deformability and clearance of nRBCs [5, 11], we investigated here whether there is an association between ABO blood groups and IgG and IgM autoantibody-driven destruction of nRBCs in P. vivax infection.…”

Plasmodium falciparum Infection among Febrile Patients Attending a Tertiary Healthcare Facility in Central Nigeria: Prevalence, Hematologic and Sociodemographic Factors

“…Patients with blood group A had the highest prevalence (90.8%) while those with blood group O had the least prevalence of the infection (23.5%). There were disagreements with findings of Otajevwo [22] and Akhigbe, et al [28] in Nigeria while, Bamou and Sevidzen, [23] in Cameroon reported highest prevalence in blood group O and Kuesap and Na-Bangchang, [27] in Thailand which reported the highest prevalence of the infection among B blood group. The high epidemiology of P. falciparum with blood group A might suggest that A antigen is more susceptible to malaria infection.…”

“…The malaria infection was highest among patients who had AA genotype (83.0%), followed by AS (47.7%) and lowest among patients with SS genotype (46.9%). A related study was done by other researchers [27]. The high prevalence among the AA genotype might be because of their high percentage of oxygen and a large amount of hemoglobin in which the parasite thrives better in such environment.…”