Abstract
BACKGROUND: Many studies discussed the relationship between ABO blood group and the susceptible occurrence of diseases as an example of the genetic basis for family predisposition. Many studies have tried to find out the relationship between the ABO blood group and various systemic diseases, and the results showed a significant association. Blood group phenotype O was associated with a substantially increased risk for coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus. PURPOSE: To investigate the possible correlation between different blood group phenotypes and the occurrence of certain medical conditions and risk observed during pregnancy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A prospective observational study carried out on 92 pregnant females at different gestational weeks admitted to a gynaecological clinic in a certain sector of the Baghdad Governorate between February and May 2017. Gestational, demographic and health records were collected for patients during the study. RESULTS: 85.9% (n=79) of the pregnant females were Rh-positive and 14.1% (n=13) were Rh-negative. The distribution of the ABO blood groups of the patients was O (n=66; 71.7%); AB (n=12; 13%); A (n=10; 10.9%) and B (n=4; 4.4%). Among different conditions, (43.3%; p=0.008) of the pregnant females of the blood group O phenotype were suffering from concomitant hypertension with DM. There was a significant correlation between Rh-positive patients with elevated LDL-cholesterol (n=79; p=0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between pregnant females of the ABO blood groups with systolic (p=0.401) and diastolic (p=0.543) blood pressure, as well as with different lipid panels including total serum cholesterol (p=0.175), LDL-cholesterol (p=0.505), HDL-cholesterol (p=0.332) and non-HDL cholesterol (p=0.173). CONCLUSION: The results of this study revealed that Rh-positive was more common among the participants. A higher occurrence of medical conditions, mainly hypertension and DM, among patients of the blood group O was observed. This could support the clinical pharmacist in seeking further knowledge of the occurrence of medical conditions and better follow-up of treatment during pregnancy. REFERENCES AND/OR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: 1. Ishikawa I. Host responses in periodontal diseases: a preview. Periodontol20002007;43:9–13. 2. Roberts JA. Blood groups and susceptibility to disease: a review. Br J Prev Soc Med1957;11:107–25. No conflict of interest