title: Effect of blood type on anti-α-Gal immunity and the incidence of infectious diseases.
abstract: The identification of factors affecting the susceptibility to infectious diseases is essential toward reducing their burden on the human population. The ABO blood type correlates with susceptibility to malaria and other infectious diseases. Due to the structural similarity between blood antigen B and Galα1-3Galβ1-(3)4GlcNAc-R (α-Gal), we hypothesized that self-tolerance to antigen B affects the immune response to α-Gal, which in turn affects the susceptibility to infectious diseases caused by pathogens carrying α-Gal on their surface. Here we found that the incidence of malaria and tuberculosis, caused by pathogens with α-Gal on their surface, positively correlates with the frequency of blood type B in endemic regions. However, the incidence of dengue fever, caused by a pathogen without α-Gal, was not related to the frequency of blood type B in these populations. Furthermore, the incidence of malaria and tuberculosis was negatively correlated with the anti-α-Gal antibody protective response. These results have implications for disease control and prevention.
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), Université Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cabezas-Cruz
authors.affiliation: SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mateos-Hernández
authors.affiliation: SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alberdi
authors.affiliation: SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Villar
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), Université Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.|Centre de Recherches Biomédicales Espoir pour la Sante, Saint-Louis, Senegal.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riveau
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), Université Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.|Centre de Recherches Biomédicales Espoir pour la Sante, Saint-Louis, Senegal.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hermann
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), Université Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.|Centre de Recherches Biomédicales Espoir pour la Sante, Saint-Louis, Senegal.
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Schacht
authors.affiliation: Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), Université Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Khalife
authors.affiliation: Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.|ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
authors.forename: Margarida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Correia-Neves
authors.affiliation: SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gortazar
authors.affiliation: SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain.|Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000276:immunology*; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; C055491:sialosyl-Tn antigen