Blood Group A Is Associated With Higher Incidence Of Nausea And Vomiting In Pregnancy

Background: To examine the association between the risk of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) with the ABO blood groups. Method: One hundred and eighteen women who were currently or previously pregnant volunteered for a study on NVP. All women completed a questionnaire assessing the severity of NVP and their general condition. Their obstetrical and physical characteristics as well as their blood type were also recorded. Participants were allocated to one of two groups: NVP(no vomiting and nausea) and NVP+ (minimum of 1 vomiting episodes a day with nausea). Patients were also grouped according to their ABO blood type. Results: Logistic regression analysis of the data indicates that those with Blood Group A have a higher risk of NVP compared to other Blood Groups (Odd Ratio of 3.43; p-value < 0.05). Conclusions: Our preliminary data indicated that patients with Blood Group A are at a higher risk to have episodes of NVP compared to other Blood Groups. We hypothesize that the association between NVP and Blood Group A is due to the similarity between the A antigen and human chorionic gonadotrophin. A larger study as wel l as molecular-based approaches will be needed in order to unequivocally confirm this.