Evaluation of the ABO blood group distribution in Serbian patients with diabetes mellitus type 2

Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate the distribution of the ABO blood groups in sample of Serbian patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2. We evaluated 114 patients from Serbia that were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2. All ABO blood groups were recorded as well as the HbA/1-C values in each patient. We also analysed the presence of the following risk factors: positive family history, elevated triglycerides, increased blood pressure and overweight. Male and female patients were evaluated separately. The most frequent blood type in this group of patients was the A blood group, whereas the least frequent was the AB blood group. There was a significant increase in the frequency of the AB blood group in Serbian patients with DM type 2 compared to the frequency in the overall Serbian population (p<0.05), whereas no significant differences were observed for the other blood groups within the ABO system. An increase in the distribution of the AB blood group was observed in patients with increased levels of HbA1C, although this increase was not significant. The highest proportion of evaluated risk factors was observed in patients belonging to the O blood group, whereas the lowest proportion was in patients belonging to the A blood group (n.s.). The results of this study suggest a possible trend between the ABO blood groups and the risk of diabetes mellitus type 2 as well as a correlation between the ABO blood groups and risk factors in patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2. Therefore, a larger cohort study is needed to better define the initial observations based on our results.