Association between ABO blood group/genotype and COVID-19 in a Japanese population

An association between coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the ABO blood group has been reported. However, such an association has not been studied in the Japanese population on a large scale. Little is known about the association between COVID-19 and ABO genotype. This study investigated the association between COVID-19 and ABO blood group/genotype in a large Japanese population. All Japanese patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were recruited through the Japan COVID-19 Task Force between February 2020 and October 2021. We conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 1790 Japanese COVID-19 patients whose DNA was used for a genome-wide association study. We compared the ABO blood group/genotype in a healthy population (n = 611, control) and COVID-19 patients and then analyzed their associations and clinical outcomes. Blood group A was significantly more prevalent (41.6% vs. 36.8%; P = 0.038), and group O was significantly less prevalent (26.2% vs. 30.8%; P = 0.028) in the COVID-19 group than in the control group. Moreover, genotype OO was significantly less common in the COVID-19 group. Furthermore, blood group AB was identified as an independent risk factor for most severe diseases compared with blood group O [aOR (95% CI) = 1.84 (1.00-3.37)]. In ABO genotype analysis, only genotype AB was an independent risk factor for most severe diseases compared with genotype OO. Blood group O is protective, whereas group A is associated with the risk of infection. Moreover, blood group AB is associated with the risk of the "most" severe disease.