A new study, titled, “ABO and Rhesus blood groups and risk of type 2 diabetes: evidence from the large E3N cohort study,” from the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health at the Gustave Roussy Institute in France suggests that the blood type AB may be associated with diabetes. The results were published in the journal Diabetologia.
Past studies have already established the link between the risk of stroke and blood type AB. Furthermore, researchers understood that this blood type could also be connected with diabetes, as available evidence showed there were more cases of diabetes among those with AB blood.
Dr. Fagherazzi and his team assessed data from 82,104 women who participated in a French E3N study, one of the cohorts of about 100,000 female teachers that began in 1990. Out of this number, 3,553 women were given a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, and their respective blood samples were collected.
Investigators found that women with type A blood were 10 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with type O blood, and women with type B had a 21 percent chance of developing the same condition. Women carrying AB blood were 17 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes in comparison to those with type O, however this is not a statistically significant result.
No differences regarding the probabilities for diabetes type 2 based on the Rhesus factor were found; when researchers analysed the Rhesus positive (R+) and the Rhesus negative (R-) women no differences were registered. However, when they crossed data regarding the Rhesus factor and the blood type some conclusions were drawn. When compared to the O blood type (without A, B or Rhesus antigens), the french researchers found that “women who were blood group B positive (B+) were 35% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with blood group O-. Women with blood group AB+ were at 26% higher risk of type 2 diabetes, those with blood group A- were at 22% higher risk and those with blood group A+ were at 17% increased risk,” as it can be found in the press release.
Dr. Fagherazzi commented: “Our findings support a strong relationship between blood group and diabetes risk, with participants with the O blood type having a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the effects of blood groups should be investigated in future clinical and epidemiological studies on diabetes. Further pathophysiological research is also needed to determine why the individuals with blood type O have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.”
