TORONTO, Ontario – According to a new study, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can more easily cling to the airway cells of those with type A blood than any other blood type.
The study, conducted in US laboratories, found that the coronavirus is particularly attracted to the blood group A antigen found in respiratory cells.
The new research also showed that the virus has ‘no preference’ over respiratory or red blood cells in type B and O blood groups.
The findings were published Wednesday in the scientific journal Blood Advances.
Several studies done in the past year have suggested that certain blood groups may be more vulnerable to COVID-19. However, researchers behind this latest study say that they are the first to suggest a possible explanation for why people with type A blood can contract the virus slightly more.
“Our observation is not the only mechanism responsible for what we see clinically, but it may explain the influence of blood group on COVID-19 infection,” the team of researchers said in a press release.
According to the laboratory study, researchers focused on a protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, known as the receptor binding domain (RBD), which is the part of the virus that attaches to the host cells and infects a person. .
The researchers looked at how this protein interacts with respiratory and red blood cells in A, B and O blood groups.
The results showed that the RBD protein has a ‘strong preference’ for binding to the molecules or antigens of blood group A that include the airways, including the lungs.
According to the study, the RBD protein has no bias towards the blood group A red blood cells or other blood groups found in respiratory or red blood cells.
Researchers say this does not mean that those with blood type B and O are immune to the virus, but says it indicates that individuals with blood group A are more likely to become infected.
The lead author of the study, dr. Sean Stowell, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the RBD’s preference to “recognize and attach” the blood type A antigen in the lungs of those with type A blood could provide insight into the potential link this group between coronavirus and coronavirus infection.
“Interestingly, the viral RBD prefers only the type of blood group A antigens in respiratory cells, which is probably the way the virus invades most patients and infects them,” Stowell said in the release.
He added that his team plans to investigate in the future how blood type “directly interacts” with SARS-CoV-2 to affect the ability of the virus to end up in human cells.
Researchers noted that the findings do not “fully describe or predict” how coronaviruses affect patients of different blood types, but say the new data could help find better treatments.
“Blood type is a challenge because it is inherited and not something we can change,” Stowell said in the release. “But if we can better understand how the virus interacts with blood groups in humans, we can find new medicines or prevention methods.”
Click here for updates on this story
The CNN thread
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia company. All rights reserved.