Is there a relation between autoimmune diseases and ABO blood grouping with rhesus factors?
Introduction:
The
autoimmune disease causes serious problems and nowadays it's widely increasing
among the population. Many people have questions and queries about how this
disease appeared, what is the reaction of this disease, and whether there is
any reaction in the body according to blood types and RH factors. Many research
studies done to identify if there is a relation or effect between autoimmune
disease and blood grouping with RH factors. A systemic review study was done to
answer these questions and queries related to this disease. First must identify what is an autoimmune
disease, what is ABO blood grouping with RH factors, and what is the relation
between each other?
Autoimmune diseases:
Autoimmune
disease is a disease that attacks the human healthy organs and cells and causes
damage to these cells by the human own immune system which is responsible for
protecting the body from outside germs, viruses, and bacteria. According to
gene mutation and environmental factors cause the disease to appear and cause
damage to specific areas in the body. There are many types of autoimmune
diseases according to place that attacks as follows:
1- If the disease
attacks the joints and muscles this can cause rheumatoid arthritis, systemic
lupus erythematosus (SLE), and psoriatic arthritis.
2- If the disease
attacks the digestive system can cause celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, and
ulcerative colitis disease.
3- If the disease
attacks the endocrine system can cause Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Addison’s
disease, and graves’ disease.
4- If the disease
attacks the nervous system this can cause multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and
Guillain-Barre syndrome.
5- If the disease
attacks the blood vessels this can cause vasculitis and Bechet’s disease.
6- If the disease
attacks the skin it can cause psoriasis and dermatomyositis.
This is the
most common disease that human beings may suffer, and each type has different
signs and symptoms according to the attack site.
Blood grouping with RH factors:
Blood
grouping means that the blood has different groups or types that consist of
antigens and red blood cells that have been grouped according to specific
chromosomes and genes inherited from parents. Human beings have different blood
types and each type has a specific antigen. The major blood groups are A, B,
and O. Each blood group has specific antigens, A antigen contains antibodies
against B antigen blood group and vice versa. But O blood group not have
antigens against A or B blood grouping because of that O blood group is a universal
donor. Related to rhesus factors human blood consists while is negative or
positive (- or + RH) this means if (immunologic D-antigen) is present or
absent. This means those who have +ve RH factors D-antigen is present and if
there is no D-antigen means the person is RH -ve. All these antigens in the blood can contribute
to the immune system of the human with gene mutation and environmental factors
can cause autoimmune disorders.
The relation between autoimmune diseases and blood grouping with -ve or +ve RH factors:
Many research studies are done to identify the relation between autoimmune diseases and RH factor because both of them can affect the immune system as autoimmune disease attacks the healthy organs by own body's immune system and in the blood, there are antigens that can affect the immune system. The research study was done with multiple
research studies by using a systematic review of 31 researches discussing the
relation between blood grouping and autoimmune disease done by Rasheed (2023)
explained the relation and there were blood types more prone to get the disease
more than other types of blood. In the result of this study that showed most of
researches mentioned that blood grouping O with RH+ve is more prone to have autoimmune
diseases, but there are other factors that strongly associated with autoimmune
disease that are genetic mutation factors and environmental with lifestyle
factors. With these factors the person can get the disease but the severity of
the disease can be effected by defferent blood groups specially O +ve.
Conclusion:
In
conclusion, autoimmune diseases have a relation with blood grouping and RH
factors because of antigens and interaction with immunity. So, if he knows if there is family history of any autoimmune diseases that can be protected, the person must do genetic tests to prevent the occurrence of the disease or
reduce the symptoms by early recognition of the disease. This can help the
person to live healthily without any struggles.
References:
1. Cleveland
Clinic. Autoimmune Diseases: Causes, Symptoms, What Is It & Treatment
[Internet]. Cleveland Clinic. 2021. Available from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21624-autoimmune-diseases
2. Mitra R, Mishra N, Rath GP. Blood groups systems. Indian J
Anaesth. 2014;58(5):524–8.
3. Ali Rasheed HM. ABO blood grouping with negative or positive rhesus
factors and relation to autoimmune diseases. Open J Clin Med Case Rep. 2023;
2123.