WEDNESDAY, March 3, 2021 (HealthDay News) – A new study provides additional evidence that people with certain blood types may be more likely to develop COVID-19.
In particular, it was found that the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is particularly attracted to the antigen of blood group A, which is found on respiratory cells.
The researchers focused on a protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus called the receptor binding domain (RBD), which is the part of the virus that binds to host cells. That makes it an important target for scientists trying to learn how the virus infects people.
In this lab study, the team looked at how the SARS-CoV-2 RBD interacted with respiratory and red blood cells in A, B, and O blood groups.
The results showed that the SARS-CoV-2-RBD had a strong preference for binding to blood group A on respiratory cells, but no preference for red blood cells of blood group A or other blood groups on respiratory cells or red blood cells.
According to the authors, the preference of SARS-CoV-2-RBD to recognize and bind to the antigen of blood group A found in the lungs of people with blood group A could provide insight into the possible connection between blood group A and the COVID-19 infection enter the study. It was published on March 3rd in Blood Advances magazine.
“It is interesting that the viral RBD only prefers the type of blood group A antigens that are found on respiratory cells. Presumably, the virus invades and infects most patients,” said study author Dr. Sean Stowell of Brigham and Boston Women’s Hospital.
“Blood type is challenging because it is inherited and we cannot change it,” Stowell said in a press release in a journal. “But if we can better understand how the virus interacts with blood types in people, we may be able to find new drugs or prevention methods.”
These results alone cannot fully describe or predict how coronaviruses would affect patients of different blood types, the researchers noted.
“Our observation isn’t the only mechanism responsible for what we see clinically, but it could explain some of the influence of blood type on COVID-19 infection,” said Stowell and his team.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about COVID-19.
SOURCE: Blood Advances, press release, March 3, 2021
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