title: Increased susceptibility of blood type O individuals to develop anemia in Plasmodium vivax infection.
abstract: Plasmodium vivax has been reported to cause severe malaria, and one of the main resulting complications is anemia. Considering that P. vivax infects only young erythrocytes, anemia has been associated with the destruction of infected and non-infected erythrocytes. However, few studies have focused on understanding the relationship between the pathogenesis of P. vivax malaria and human genetic polymorphisms. Although ABO groups seem to influence the outcome of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the association between P. vivax and ABO blood groups has been minimally investigated. Thus, we investigate the correlation between ABO blood groups and anemia induced by P. vivax infection. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms at the ABO gene were genotyped by PCR-RFLP and Real-Time PCR in P. vivax-infected subjects. The ABO blood types were associated with the hematological data of the patients. Our main finding was that type O infected-individuals showed lower levels of hemoglobin and hematocrit compared to type A-infected individuals. The correlation between ABO blood groups and hemoglobin levels remained significant when a multiple linear regression was applied with the possible confounding effects of clinical-epidemiologic variables taken into account. The finding that type O individuals have a higher frequency of anemia is a first step to understand the mechanisms involved in malaria anemia, which could be associated to increased destruction of type O erythrocytes.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: stela@cpqrr.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Sarah Stela
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Resende
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: vanessa.milagres@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Vanessa Gonçalves
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Milagres
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Pesquisa, Fundação Hemominas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: daniel.chaves@hemominas.mg.gov.br.
authors.forename: Daniel Gonçalves
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.affiliation: Hospital Julio Muller, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Electronic address: corfontes@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Cor Jesus Fernandes
authors.initials: CJF
authors.lastname: Fontes
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: lhcarvalho@cpqrr.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Luzia Helena
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: tais@cpqrr.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Tais Nobrega
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.affiliation: Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: cristiana@cpqrr.fiocruz.br.
authors.forename: Cristiana Ferreira Alves de
authors.initials: CFA
authors.lastname: Brito
mesh_terms: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005838:Genotype; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
chemical_list: D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D006454:Hemoglobins
keywords: ABO blood group; Anemia; Malaria; Plasmodium vivax