ABO Variants Linked to Risk for Early-Onset Ischemic Stroke

THURSDAY, Sept. 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) — ABO variants tagging blood groups O1 and A1 are more strongly associated with risk for early-onset stroke (EOS) versus late-onset stroke (LOS), according to a meta-analysis published online Aug. 31 in Neurology.

Thomas Jaworek, from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of EOS among patients aged 18 to 59 years using individual level data or summary statistics for 16,730 cases and 599,237 nonstroke controls from 48 studies. Effect sizes were further compared at associated loci for EOS and LOS.

The researchers identified genome-wide significant associations of EOS with two variants in ABO, tagging blood subgroups O1 and A1. For both variants, the effect sizes were significantly larger in EOS versus LOS (odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals] for rs529565, tagging O1, 0.88 [0.85 to 0.91] and 0.96 [0.92 to 1.00] in EOS and LOS, respectively; odds ratios [95 percent confidence intervals] for rs635634, tagging A1, 1.16 [1.11 to 1.21] and 1.05 [0.99 to 1.11] in EOS and LOS, respectively; P for interaction, 0.001 and 0.005, respectively). Greater genetic risk for venous thromboembolism was more strongly associated with EOS versus LOS using polygenic risk scores.

“Our findings are consistent with an increased role for prothrombotic mechanisms in EOS compared to LOS,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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