We noted you are experiencing viewing problems
-
Check with your IT department that JWPlatform, JWPlayer and Amazon AWS & CloudFront are not being blocked by your network. The relevant domains are *.jwplatform.com, *.jwpsrv.com, *.jwpcdn.com, jwpltx.com, jwpsrv.a.ssl.fastly.net, *.amazonaws.com and *.cloudfront.net. The relevant ports are 80 and 443.
-
Check the following talk links to see which ones work correctly:
Auto Mode
HTTP Progressive Download Send us your results from the above test links at access@hstalks.com and we will contact you with further advice on troubleshooting your viewing problems. -
No luck yet? More tips for troubleshooting viewing issues
-
Contact HST Support access@hstalks.com
-
Please review our troubleshooting guide for tips and advice on resolving your viewing problems.
-
For additional help, please don't hesitate to contact HST support access@hstalks.com
We hope you have enjoyed this free, full length talk
Topics Covered
- How blood group can affect susceptibility to viruses
- The initial studies into blood group and COVID-19 susceptibility
- Molecular research in this topic
- The possible involvement of the Rhesus (Rh) protein
- Future steps in this field
Biography
Dr. Sean Stowell is the Medical Director of Apheresis at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Associate Director of the National Center for Functional Glycomics at Harvard Medical School. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School, where he runs a research program that examines the development and consequences of immune responses to blood group antigens. He obtained his MD and PhD degrees from Emory, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude followed by additional training in laboratory and transfusion medicine.
Links
Series:
Categories:
Therapeutic Areas:
Talk Citation
Stowell, S. (2021, March 22). ABO blood groups and SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility [Audio file]. In The Biomedical & Life Sciences Collection, Henry Stewart Talks. Retrieved September 22, 2023, from https://hstalks.com/bs/4610/.Export Citation (RIS)
Publication History
Financial Disclosures
- Dr. Sean Stowell has not informed HSTalks of any commercial/financial relationship that it is appropriate to disclose.
Other Talks in the Playlist: Interviews on Covid-19
Transcript
Please wait while the transcript is being prepared...
0:00
Interviewer: Dr. Stowell, thank you for taking the time today to discuss with us the role
of blood type in the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Could you please outline how different blood types could
have a different response to viral infections?
Dr. Stowell: You bet. There have been studies in general suggesting that blood types can
potentially impact one's likelihood of getting an infection, before COVID.
These studies have suggested that the way that may occur is through
potential incorporation of blood group antigens
which reside on the membranes of cells in general,
not only on red cells
but also on the cell surface of our lungs and other cells as well.
When viruses are made by those cells
the blood group antigens may become incorporated, especially in envelope viruses,
which accumulate some of the membrane on
the surface of our cells onto their surface. Those blood group antigens that
may be populated on the viral surface serve as
a target for antibodies that we make naturally, within the first few months of our life.
Everyone that's blood group O makes antibodies
spontaneously within the first few months of life against blood group A or blood group B.
The idea, or concept, that's been out there for
a long time is that if a blood group A person,
for example, was infected with a virus that's enveloped
(meaning that it has a membrane component to it), and that
membrane component had the blood group A or blood group B antigen on it, a blood group O
person's naturally-occurring antibodies (that are just being made regardless of viral exposure)
may be able to bind to the virus and prevent it from
infecting them. Or at least reduce the probability that it can infect them.