Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

A large cohort study of the effects of Lewis, ABO, 13 other blood groups, and secretor status on COVID-19 susceptibility, severity, and long COVID-19

Moslemi, Camous ; Sækmose, Susanne ; Larsen, Rune ; Brodersen, Thorsten ; Didriksen, Maria ; Hjalgrim, Henrik ; Banasik, Karina ; Nielsen, Kaspar R. ; Bruun, Mie T. and Dowsett, Joseph , et al. (2023) In Transfusion 63(1). p.47-58
Abstract

Background: Previous studies have reported Blood type O to confer a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while secretor status and other blood groups have been suspected to have a similar effect as well. Study design and methods: To determine whether any other blood groups influence testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 severity, or prolonged COVID-19, we used a large cohort of 650,156 Danish blood donors with varying available data for secretor status and blood groups ABO, Rh, Colton, Duffy, Diego, Dombrock, Kell, Kidd, Knops, Lewis, Lutheran, MNS, P1PK, Vel, and Yt. Of these, 36,068 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 whereas 614,088 tested negative between 2020-02-17 and 2021-08-04. Associations between infection and blood groups were... (More)

Background: Previous studies have reported Blood type O to confer a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while secretor status and other blood groups have been suspected to have a similar effect as well. Study design and methods: To determine whether any other blood groups influence testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 severity, or prolonged COVID-19, we used a large cohort of 650,156 Danish blood donors with varying available data for secretor status and blood groups ABO, Rh, Colton, Duffy, Diego, Dombrock, Kell, Kidd, Knops, Lewis, Lutheran, MNS, P1PK, Vel, and Yt. Of these, 36,068 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 whereas 614,088 tested negative between 2020-02-17 and 2021-08-04. Associations between infection and blood groups were assessed using logistic regression models with sex and age as covariates. Results: The Lewis blood group antigen Lea displayed strongly reduced SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility OR 0.85 CI[0.79–0.93] p <.001. Compared to blood type O, the blood types B, A, and AB were found more susceptible toward infection with ORs 1.1 CI[1.06–1.14] p <.001, 1.17 CI[1.14–1.2] p <.001, and 1.2 CI[1.14–1.26] p <.001, respectively. No susceptibility associations were found for the other 13 blood groups investigated. There was no association between any blood groups and COVID-19 hospitalization or long COVID-19. No secretor status associations were found. Discussion: This study uncovers a new association to reduced SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility for Lewis type Lea and confirms the previous link to blood group O. The new association to Lea could be explained by a link between mucosal microbiome and SARS-CoV-2.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
ABO, blood antigen, blood groups, blood systems, COVID hospitalization, COVID severity, COVID susceptibility, COVID-19, Diego, Dombrock, Duffy, FUT2, FUT3, Kell, Kidd, Knops, Lewis, long COVID symptoms, long COVID-19, Lutheran, MNS, P1PK, Rh, SARS-CoV-2, secretor, Vel, Yt
in
Transfusion
volume
63
issue
1
pages
47 - 58
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85141350949
  • pmid:36271437
ISSN
0041-1132
DOI
10.1111/trf.17170
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
17fd0d8d-b90f-4342-989b-54ab2ae21ae8
date added to LUP
2022-12-21 11:46:59
date last changed
2024-04-18 16:51:31
@article{17fd0d8d-b90f-4342-989b-54ab2ae21ae8,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Previous studies have reported Blood type O to confer a lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while secretor status and other blood groups have been suspected to have a similar effect as well. Study design and methods: To determine whether any other blood groups influence testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 severity, or prolonged COVID-19, we used a large cohort of 650,156 Danish blood donors with varying available data for secretor status and blood groups ABO, Rh, Colton, Duffy, Diego, Dombrock, Kell, Kidd, Knops, Lewis, Lutheran, MNS, P1PK, Vel, and Yt. Of these, 36,068 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 whereas 614,088 tested negative between 2020-02-17 and 2021-08-04. Associations between infection and blood groups were assessed using logistic regression models with sex and age as covariates. Results: The Lewis blood group antigen Le<sup>a</sup> displayed strongly reduced SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility OR 0.85 CI[0.79–0.93] p &lt;.001. Compared to blood type O, the blood types B, A, and AB were found more susceptible toward infection with ORs 1.1 CI[1.06–1.14] p &lt;.001, 1.17 CI[1.14–1.2] p &lt;.001, and 1.2 CI[1.14–1.26] p &lt;.001, respectively. No susceptibility associations were found for the other 13 blood groups investigated. There was no association between any blood groups and COVID-19 hospitalization or long COVID-19. No secretor status associations were found. Discussion: This study uncovers a new association to reduced SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility for Lewis type Le<sup>a</sup> and confirms the previous link to blood group O. The new association to Le<sup>a</sup> could be explained by a link between mucosal microbiome and SARS-CoV-2.</p>}},
  author       = {{Moslemi, Camous and Sækmose, Susanne and Larsen, Rune and Brodersen, Thorsten and Didriksen, Maria and Hjalgrim, Henrik and Banasik, Karina and Nielsen, Kaspar R. and Bruun, Mie T. and Dowsett, Joseph and Kasperen, Kathrine A. and Mikkelsen, Susan and Hansen, Thomas F. and Ullum, Henrik and Erikstrup, Christian and Olsson, Martin L. and Ostrowski, Sisse R. and Pedersen, Ole B.}},
  issn         = {{0041-1132}},
  keywords     = {{ABO; blood antigen; blood groups; blood systems; COVID hospitalization; COVID severity; COVID susceptibility; COVID-19; Diego; Dombrock; Duffy; FUT2; FUT3; Kell; Kidd; Knops; Lewis; long COVID symptoms; long COVID-19; Lutheran; MNS; P1PK; Rh; SARS-CoV-2; secretor; Vel; Yt}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{47--58}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Transfusion}},
  title        = {{A large cohort study of the effects of Lewis, ABO, 13 other blood groups, and secretor status on COVID-19 susceptibility, severity, and long COVID-19}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/trf.17170}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/trf.17170}},
  volume       = {{63}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}