title: Association of ABO histo-blood group B allele with myocardial infarction.
abstract: To investigate a possible association of ABO blood group alleles with myocardial infarction, a case-control study comprising 177 patients (median age 57.0 years; range 32-72 years) and 89 controls was performed. The distributions of the ABO blood-genotype O1, O2, A1, A2 and B alleles were assessed by analysis of genomic DNA, using the sequence-specific primer-polymerase chain reaction (PCR-SSP) technique to investigate exons VI and VII on chromosome 9. The prevalence of the B allele was 2.5 times higher amongst patients with a history of myocardial infarction than amongst controls (16.3 vs. 6.7%; P = 0.034, Fisher's exact test). There was an association between patients carrying the B allele and myocardial infarction, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.7 (95% confidence interval 1.1-6.8). The B allele remained an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction (P = 0.038) when classical risk factors were adjusted for by unconditional logistic regression. In conclusion, the ABO blood group B allele was found to be an independent risk factor for myocardial infarction.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital/Inselspital, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland. urs.nydegger@insel.ch
authors.forename: U E
authors.initials: UE
authors.lastname: Nydegger
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Wuillemin
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Julmy
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Carrel
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000235:genetics*; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System