%0 Journal Article
%T Association of ABO blood group with severe falciparum malaria in adults: case control study and meta-analysis
%A Aditya K Panda
%A Santosh K Panda
%A Aditya N Sahu
%A Rina Tripathy
%A Balachandran Ravindran
%A Bidyut K Das
%J Malaria Journal
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2875-10-309
%X A total of 353 P. falciparum infected subjects and 174 healthy controls were screened for ABO blood group. Falciparum-infected individuals were categorized as severe malaria and uncomplicated malaria. Severe malaria was further clinically phenotyped into cerebral malaria, non-cerebral severe malaria and multi-organ dysfunction. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the role of ABO blood group in severe malaria.Frequency of blood group 'B' was significantly higher in patients with severe malaria compared to the uncomplicated cases (P < 0.0001; OR = 4.09) and healthy controls (P < 0.0001; OR = 2.79). Irrespective of the level of clinical severity, blood group 'B' was significantly associated with cerebral malaria (P < 0.0001; OR = 5.95), multi-organ dysfunction (P < 0.0001; OR = 4.81) and non-cerebral severe malaria patients (P = 0.001; OR = 3.02) compared to the uncomplicated category. Prevalence of 'O' group in uncomplicated malaria (P < 0.0001; OR = 2.81) and healthy controls (P = 0.0003; OR = 2.16) was significantly high compared to severe malaria. Meta-analysis of previous studies, including the current one, highlighted the protective nature of blood group 'O' to severe malaria (P = 0.01). On the other hand, carriers of blood group 'A' (P = 0.04) and 'AB' (P = 0.04) were susceptible to malaria severity.Results of the current study indicate that blood group 'O' is associated with reduced and 'B' blood group with increased risk of development of severe malaria in Odisha, India. Meta-analysis also supports the protective nature of blood group 'O' from severe falciparum infection.Malaria is an infection caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium and transmitted by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. Out of the four species that infect humans, Plasmodium falciparum is the principal cause of severe clinical manifestations [1]. Cyto-adherence and rosetting are important components of several possible pathogenic mechanisms attributed to the cause of s
%K ABO blood group
%K severe malaria
%K cerebral malaria
%K multi-organ dysfunction
%K non-cerebral severe malaria
%K uncomplicated malaria
%K meta-analysis
%U http://www.malariajournal.com/content/10/1/309