ABO Blood group polymorphisms in relation to dermatoglyphics: A cross-sectional study

Background: It has been identified that the ABO blood group system is controlled by a 2 loci gene system: locus ABO and locus H (FUT1), while Dermatoglyphics have been shown to be polygenic multi-factorial traits. Recent advances in genetic analysis have found a multitude of links between these two traits, but conclusive deductions are still pending. The current study was a cross-sectional study aimed at expounding Dermatoglyphics in different ABO blood types among a sex matched sample of 300 Ethiopian students from Jigjiga University, Ethiopia. Results: The analysis revealed that there lies a significant association between fingerprint patterns and Dermatoglyphics (χ2, p<0.00001). Pair-wise comparisons revealed higher loop frequencies for the A blood type relative to the B (OR= 1.52) and AB (OR= 1.96) blood types, lower loop counts in O relative to B (OR= 0.55) and AB (OR= 0.42) individuals, elevated whorl counts in A relative to B (OR= 1.72) and AB (OR=2.14) blood types, lower whorl counts in B (OR= 0.52) and AB blood types (OR= 0.42) relative to the O blood group, while none of the pair-wise comparisons revealed significant differences for the arch pattern. Further studies involving higher sample sizes and a thorough meta-analysis of the so far published findings are pivotal in order to come to conclusive deductions.