ABO Blood grouping and Rhesus factor: Association with ovarian reserve and the outcomes after in-vitro fertilization

Abstract

Background: The evidence currently available fair to suggest a relation between ABO grouping and women infertility such as antral follicles count, recurring miscarriage and live delivery. ABO antigens system was linked with some reproductive disorders, like endometriosis and ovarian cancer. Still, the link between blood grouping and infertility has been a topic of debate, even though some scholars support an absent association in various populations. Ovarian reserve (OR) denotes the potential reproductive capacity as a function of the quality and quantity of residual female oocytes. Around 10% of infertile women reveals reduced OR. Several revisions have described associations between the ABO groups and OR, and displayed that O blood group is more possible to have reduced OR. There is a deficient or debatable literature inspecting associations of ABO blood group with the OR among infertile females. To illuminate the relationship between ABO blood antigens and OR, the authors plan this study. Results: Mean age of patients was 34.1 ± 2.8year and most of patients were presented with primary infertility. Blood group O represent 35.4% of patients, blood group A and B were rather equal, while blood group AB was the least (8.6%). Majority of patients (91.9%) presented with Rh+ve. No significant differences between the means of study variables according to blood groups. A significant association between blood grouping with the classes of FSH and AFCs was detected. Non-significant association was detected between the ABO groups and AMH levels. There was non-significant association between Rh and all other study variables. There was insignificant difference in the association of FSH among any two blood groups. Materials and methods: This was a retrospective, single-center study. It included 1063 women with mean age of 34.1 ± 2.8years. The study included females with unexplained infertility and submitted to controlled ovarian stimulation, gonadotropin triggering, oocyte recovery, cultured embryo, and transferred embryo. The following data were obtained from each women: age, infertility duration, AFCs, ABO blood type, Rhesus (Rh) factor, serum FSH and AMH levels, parity, detailed gravity, birth outcomes, and history of abortion. Antral follicle counting (AFC) was calculated on the third cycle day using vaginal ultrasonography. The statistics were finalised through SPSS version 25 for Windows. Conclusion: The present study concluded that blood groups and Rh factor associated with the reduced OR. The outcomes of pregnancy after IVF are not influenced by blood types. Excessive focusing on blood groups is not essential during management of infertile females and assisted reproductive techniques.