Differential Rheology Among ABO Blood Group System In Nigerians

Abstract

Background: ABO blood groups have been reported to have rheological significance and association with different disease conditions. The non-O blood groups (A, B, and AB) have shown more susceptibility to arterial and venous thrombotic diseases with no rheological delineation. The determinants of these blood groups are based on the presence or absence of the inherited antigenic substances on the erythrocyte membrane which are responsible for the alterations in membrane and cytoskeletal properties that could affect the rheology of blood. This study was therefore aimed at ascertaining how the varying membrane biochemical antigenic architecture affects the erythrocyte’s rheological properties and that of the whole blood.
Methods: A total of 138 young healthy subjects were studied; they comprised 40, 38, 50 and 10 subjects divided into blood groups (A, B, and O and AB) respectively. Hemorheological parameters such as Relative plasma viscosity (RPV), Hematocrit (HCT), Plasma Fibrinogen concentration (PFC), White blood cell count (WBC), Red blood cell count (RBC), Platelet count, Hemoglobin concentration (Hb) and Erythrocyte deformability (ED) were analyzed. The transit time model (the higher the transit time, the lesser the deformability) was used in analyzing RBC deformability.
Results: We observed that blood group AB had significantly higher values of PFC, RPV and Platelet counts but significantly lower transit time (p<0.05, respectively) when compared with other blood groups. The transit times were in the order of B>A>O>AB (p<0.05, respectively).
Conclusion: In conclusion, blood group AB seems to have a positive advantage of better RBC deformability despite its comparatively high RPV. This shows that hemorheological variations exists amongst the ABO blood groups and the red cell antigenic biochemistry may be a determinant of their membrane mechanical properties. Also, a slight increase in Plasma Fibrinogen Concentration seems to have a significantly profound effect on plasma viscosity and indeed RBC deformability via transit times.

Keywords: Hemorheology, Deformability, Plasma Viscosity, Transit time, antigenic biochemistry