Effect of ABO blood type on ovarian reserve in Chinese women

Objective: To explore the effect of ABO blood type on ovarian reserve in Chinese women.

Design: Retrospective analysis.

Setting: University-affiliated IVF center.

Patient(s): The retrospective analysis involved 35,479 women who underwent in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles between 2006 and 2012.

Intervention(s): None.

Main outcome measure(s): The association between ABO blood types and diminished ovarian reserve (DOR).

Result(s): Among 35,479 Chinese women, 11,395 (32.12%) had blood type B, 10,583 (29.83%) had blood type O, 9,861 (27.79%) had blood type A, and 3,640 (10.26%) had blood type AB. There was a statistically significantly higher percentage of blood type O among those with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels ≤10 IU/L compared with those with FSH levels >10 IU/L. Conversely, among the women with DOR, there was statistically significantly higher percentage of those with blood types B and AB. Blood type A was not associated with DOR occurrence. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that blood type O was statistically significantly less often associated with DOR occurrence, whereas the B antigen (blood type B or AB) was statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of DOR.

Conclusion(s): Our results have shown that there is an association between ABO blood type and DOR occurrence in Chinese women. Women with blood type O were statistically significantly less likely to have DOR, whereas those with B antigen (blood type B or AB) were statistically significantly more likely to have DOR. Blood type A was not associated with ovarian reserve.