Evaluation of the Relationship between ABO Blood Groups, Rh Factor and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

Objective: To find out the association of type II diabetes mellitus (DM) with different ABO and Rh blood groups. Materials and methods: The study included 300 people including 150 patients with type 2 diabetes who attended the Imam Hussein Medical City and 150 healthy people as controls who attended the blood bank to donate blood for the time from October 2016 to September 2017. Group 1 (diabetics) and Group 2 (healthy controls), both groups were examined for ABO and Rh. Results: Blood groups O and AB showed a more common association, whereas patients with blood group A were associated less commonly with diabetes mellitus (DM), as compared to controls. Blood group B showed similar distribution among both groups. The higher percentage of controls than diabetics had Rh positive blood group (93.3% vs 88.0%), whereas more percentage of diabetics showed Rh-negative blood group (12.0% vs 8.7%). The higher percentage of diabetics with blood group O and B were positive, whereas controls with blood group A and B were with a higher percentage. Conclusion: Our study concluded that there is no relationship between ABO/Rh and diabetes mellitus in this group of the Iraqi population.