Exp Mol Med.
2017 Mar;49(3):e301. 10.1038/emm.2016.164.
Effect of blood type on anti-α-Gal immunity and the incidence of infectious diseases
- Affiliations
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- 1Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille (CIIL), Université Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France.
- 2SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos IREC-CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ronda de Toledo s/n, Ciudad Real, Spain. jose_delafuente@yahoo.com
- 3Centre de Recherches Biomédicales Espoir pour la Sante, Saint-Louis, Senegal.
- 4Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
- 5ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães, Portugal.
- 6Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
- KMID: 2375788
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/emm.2016.164
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.
