Serum lipids and lipoproteins associations with AB0 blood groups

In the present study, total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were evaluated in 393 Italian male blood donors aged from 20 to 59 years and the association between these variables and ABO blood groups was examined. Through multiple linear regression we found that the variance in serum variable concentrations was significantly influenced by variance in the other serum variables, while lipid and lipoprotein levels were not significantly influenced by age. In the population studied we did not find any association between total, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol and ABO blood groups while triglyceride levels were higher in individuals with B antigen (B + AB) than in subjects without this antigen. We think that environmental factors could be more important than genetic factors in the arousal of cardiovascular diseases.