Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Sep;14(5):441-8.
doi: 10.2450/2016.0313-15. Epub 2016 May 5.

Relationship between ABO blood group and pregnancy complications: a systematic literature analysis

Massimo Franchini  1 , Carlo Mengoli  2 , Giuseppe Lippi  3
Affiliations
Free PMC article
Review

Relationship between ABO blood group and pregnancy complications: a systematic literature analysis

Massimo Franchini et al. Blood Transfus. 2016 Sep.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Given the expression of ABO blood group antigens on the surface of a wide range of human cells and tissues, the putative interplay of the ABO system in human biology outside the area of transfusion and transplantation medicine constitutes an intriguing byway of research. Thanks to evidence accumulated over more than 50 years, the involvement of the ABO system in the pathogenesis of several human diseases, including cardiovascular, infectious and neoplastic disorders, is now acknowledged. However, there is controversial information on the potential association between ABO blood type and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including pre-eclampsia and related disorders (eclampsia, HELLP syndrome and intrauterine growth restriction), venous thromboembolism, post-partum haemorrhage and gestational diabetes. To elucidate the role of ABO antigens in pregnancy-related complications, we performed a systematic review of the literature published in the past 50 years. A meta-analytical approach was also applied to the existing literature on the association between ABO status and pre-eclampsia. The results of this systematic review are presented and critically discussed, along with the possible pathogenic implications.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Association of the group O with pre-eclampsia (OR meta-analytical pooling, fixed effect). OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sensitivity analysis of the association of group O with pre-eclampsia (OR meta-analytical pooling, fixed effect). No study, if omitted, changed the overall effect to non-significance. Indeed, the 95% CI never overlaps the null value of one. OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Association of group A with pre-eclampsia (OR meta-analytical pooling, random effects). OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Association of group AB with pre-eclampsia (OR meta-analytical pooling, random effects). OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Putative causal effect of group O vs non-O on pre-eclampsia (relative risk meta-analytical pooling, fixed effect). RR: risk ratio; CI: confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Storry JR, Olsson ML. The ABO blood group system revisited: a review and update. Immunohematology. 2009;25:48–9. - PubMed
    1. Liumbruno GM, Franchini M. Beyond immunohaematology: the role of the ABO blood group in human diseases. Blood Transfus. 2013;11:491–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Franchini M, Mannucci PM. ABO blood group and thrombotic vascular disease. Thromb Haemost. 2014;112:1103–9. - PubMed
    1. Yamamoto F, Cid E, Yamamoto M, Blancher A. ABO research in the modern era of genomics. Transfus Med Rev. 2012;26:103–18. - PubMed
    1. Anstee DJ. The relationship between blood groups and disease. Blood. 2010;115:4635–43. - PubMed

Substances