ABO blood group prevalence in spontaneously repeated abortion

The relation of ABO blood groups to disease is well established. In 1943, Levine had identified ABO incompatibility as a cause of early abortions and stillbirths. From this time onwards numerous workers produced data suggesting, mainly on the grounds of a deficiency of A children, and an excess of abortions, in the families of O women married to A men, that the A fetuses produced by such mating were especially liable to be aborted. Seventy-nine couples from Pune city (India), suffering from repeated abortion have been investigated for the ABO blood groups system to find out the frequency of ABO blood group phenotypes and ABO incompatibility as a cause of abortion. In husband group maximum number of individuals had blood group A. In wife group, blood group B showed the highest number of individuals. In mixed group 154 patients have been tested and out of these, again blood group A, shows the highest number of individuals. Blood group "A" and "AB" was significantly higher in individual and mixed groups as compared with normal groups in this study. ABO blood group of husband/wife mating was also determined, the analysis of husband/wife joint "ABO" blood group distribution in these couples, shows an excess of joint "A/B" blood groups in couples as compared with expected proportions assuming random mating. This study came to a conclusion that there is a clear increase in number of individuals for blood group A and AB in-patients with repeated abortion, and this factor may need to pay more attention in future investigations. It is possible that incompatibility of the antigens present in red blood cell membrane of husband/wife may play some role in abortion.