{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T11:07:11Z","timestamp":1788865631442,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788825600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Clin. Med.","JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Although ABO blood groups have been implicated in several vascular and neurological disorders, evidence regarding their association with epilepsy remains limited and inconclusive. We performed the largest and most comprehensive case\u2013control evaluation to date to determine whether ABO\/RhD blood groups are associated with epilepsy. Methods: We conducted a retrospective hospital-based case\u2013control study including 806 adults with epilepsy and 14,032 controls from the same institutional population between January 2015 and January 2026. Epilepsy diagnoses were confirmed independently by two neurologists according to International League Against Epilepsy criteria. Associations between epilepsy and ABO\/RhD blood groups were evaluated using a comprehensive analytical framework incorporating multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, binary blood group comparisons, age- and sex-matched sensitivity analyses, and epilepsy subtype-specific analyses. Results: No significant association was identified between epilepsy and ABO\/RhD blood groups across any analytical approach. Overall ABO blood group (p = 0.777) and RhD status (p = 0.611) distributions were comparable between patients with epilepsy and controls. Binary analyses showed no significant associations for non-O versus O (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.90\u20131.22; p = 0.535), non-A versus A (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.80\u20131.06; p = 0.297), non-B versus B (OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.85\u20131.25; p = 0.748), non-AB versus AB (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.81\u20131.34; p = 0.723), or RhD-negative versus RhD-positive status (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.85\u20131.31; p = 0.611). These findings remained unchanged after multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, 1:4 age- and sex-matched sensitivity analyses (806 patients with epilepsy and 3224 matched controls; ABO p = 0.774, RhD p = 0.740), and comparisons between focal and generalized epilepsy subtypes (ABO p = 0.531; RhD p = 0.995). Conclusions: In this large hospital-based case\u2013control study, no significant association was identified between epilepsy and ABO\/RhD blood groups. However, the hospital-based control population and the availability of blood group data should be considered when interpreting these findings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15186949","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T10:00:04Z","timestamp":1788861604000},"page":"6949","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["ABO and RhD Blood Groups in Epilepsy: A Comprehensive Case\u2013Control Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Okan","family":"Sokmen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Atat\u00fcrk Sanatorium Research and Training Hospital, Ankara 06280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Osman","family":"Korucu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Atat\u00fcrk Sanatorium Research and Training Hospital, Ankara 06280, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"GBD Epilepsy Collaborators (2025). Global, regional, and national burden of epilepsy, 1990\u20132021: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Lancet Public Health, 10, e203\u2013e227."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"511","DOI":"10.1016\/S1474-4422(24)00079-6","article-title":"Improving epilepsy diagnosis across the lifespan: Approaches and innovations","volume":"23","author":"Pellinen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Lancet Neurol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, S., and Schooling, C.M. (2020). A phenome-wide association study of ABO blood groups. BMC Med., 18.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12916-020-01795-4"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1103","DOI":"10.1160\/th14-05-0457","article-title":"ABO blood group and thrombotic vascular disease","volume":"112","author":"Franchini","year":"2014","journal-title":"Thromb. Haemost."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1034","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(72)92449-X","article-title":"ABO blood-groups and epilepsy","volume":"2","author":"Fedrick","year":"1972","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108567","DOI":"10.1016\/j.yebeh.2022.108567","article-title":"ABO blood group and Rh factor distributions in patients with epilepsy","volume":"128","author":"Cheraghipour","year":"2022","journal-title":"Epilepsy Behav."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1087","DOI":"10.1002\/epd2.70110","article-title":"A practical guide to the updated seizure classification 2025","volume":"27","author":"Beniczky","year":"2025","journal-title":"Epileptic Disord."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"475","DOI":"10.1111\/epi.12550","article-title":"ILAE official report: A practical clinical definition of epilepsy","volume":"55","author":"Fisher","year":"2014","journal-title":"Epilepsia"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"961","DOI":"10.55730\/1300-0144.6049","article-title":"Blood group profile of T\u00fcrkiye with regional and demographic differences: A 23-year retrospective study","volume":"55","author":"Karaca","year":"2025","journal-title":"Turk. J. Med. Sci."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"97","article-title":"ABO and Rh Blood Group Distribution in Kayseri Province, Turkey","volume":"29","author":"Torun","year":"2012","journal-title":"Turk. J. Haematol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"28","DOI":"10.1016\/j.yebeh.2019.03.045","article-title":"Implementation of the new ILAE classification of epilepsies into clinical practice\u2014A cohort study","volume":"96","author":"Bosak","year":"2019","journal-title":"Epilepsy Behav."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"512","DOI":"10.1111\/epi.13709","article-title":"ILAE classification of the epilepsies: Position paper of the ILAE Commission for Classification and Terminology","volume":"58","author":"Scheffer","year":"2017","journal-title":"Epilepsia"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"667","DOI":"10.1192\/bjp.85.357.667","article-title":"Blood groups in health and in mental disease","volume":"85","author":"Thomas","year":"1939","journal-title":"J. Ment. Sci."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"975","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1537-2995.1998.381098440863.x","article-title":"The histo-blood group ABO system and tissue transplantation","volume":"38","author":"Eastlund","year":"1998","journal-title":"Transfusion"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1006\/bcmd.2000.0355","article-title":"New insights into the Rh superfamily of genes and proteins in erythroid cells and nonerythroid tissues","volume":"27","author":"Huang","year":"2001","journal-title":"Blood Cells Mol. Dis."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2112","DOI":"10.1161\/ATVBAHA.113.301362","article-title":"Endothelial Von Willebrand factor promotes blood-brain barrier flexibility and provides protection from hypoxia and seizures in mice","volume":"33","author":"Suidan","year":"2013","journal-title":"Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Suleymanova, E., and Karan, A. (2025). The role of blood-brain barrier disruption in epilepsy: Mechanisms and consequences. Neurol. Int., 18.","DOI":"10.3390\/neurolint18010001"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.3892\/ijmm.2025.5577","article-title":"Blood-brain barrier dysfunction in epilepsy: Mechanisms, therapeutic strategies and future orientation (Review)","volume":"56","author":"Huang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Int. J. Mol. Med."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1958","DOI":"10.1161\/ATVBAHA.109.192971","article-title":"Genome-wide association identifies the ABO blood group as a major locus associated with serum levels of soluble E-selectin","volume":"29","author":"Paterson","year":"2009","journal-title":"Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ding, M., Lang, Y., Shu, H., Shao, J., and Cui, L. (2021). Microbiota-gut-brain axis and epilepsy: A review on mechanisms and potential therapeutics. Front. Immunol., 12.","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2021.742449"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"M\u00e4kivuokko, H., Lahtinen, S.J., Wacklin, P., Tuovinen, E., Tenkanen, H., Nikkil\u00e4, J., Bj\u00f6rklund, M., Aranko, K., Ouwehand, A.C., and M\u00e4tt\u00f6, J. (2012). Association between the ABO blood group and the human intestinal microbiota composition. BMC Microbiol., 12.","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2180-12-94"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zeng, Y., Cao, S., and Yang, H. (2023). Roles of gut microbiome in epilepsy risk: A Mendelian randomization study. Front. Microbiol., 14.","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2023.1115014"}],"container-title":["Journal of Clinical Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/15\/18\/6949\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]],"date-time":"2026-09-08T10:12:38Z","timestamp":1788862358000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2077-0383\/15\/18\/6949"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]},"references-count":22,"journal-issue":{"issue":"18","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["jcm15186949"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jcm15186949","relation":{},"ISSN":["2077-0383"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2077-0383","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,8]]}}}