Evidence of an association between the O blood group and allergic rhinitis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to verify if ABO phenotypes are associated with allergic rhinitis. METHODS: 168 patients with allergic rhinitis and 168 control individuals from the same geographical region and paired by gender and age were enrolled in the study. ABO phenotypes were identified in red blood cells using the hemagglutination technique. The Fisher exact and chi-squared tests were employed to compare proportions. Statistical significance was set for an alpha error of 5% (p-value < 0.05). RESULTS: The overall differences in the frequencies of the ABO phenotypes of patients and c...