Association of ABO blood groups and Diabetes Mellitus in King Abdulaziz University Hospital: A case-control study

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder resulting from decreased insulin production or increased cell resistance to insulin. The association between DM risk and 'ABO' blood groups have demonstrated by a few earlier kinds of research in the Jeddah region. In this study, we aimed to assess the relationship between ABO blood groups and DM at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methodology: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at KAUH, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, approved this proposal. The cases were taken from the database of patients diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) or Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and controls were chosen randomly from family medicine clinics that came for routine checkups. Demographics, comorbidities, and lab values were collected and analyzed. Results: This study included 718 samples; 396 were females, 322 were males, the mean age was 42.55±11.22, 51.1% were diabetic, and the majority of them had T1D (52%). The most common comorbidities were hypertension (56.9%) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) (24.3%). Patients with T2D were more prone to develop comorbidities than patients with T1D (77.8% vs. 62.8%, p=0.03). Patients whose blood group was O-had a higher rate of IHD than the rest of the blood groups (p=0.02). No significant association was found between ABO blood groups and HbA1c. Conclusion: Blood group O is the most prevalent and is associated with developing IHD among people with diabetes. Hypertension was found to be the most common comorbidity, followed by IHD and heart failure.