The relationship of blood-group type to American cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Following the hypothesis that Leishmania parasites escape the host defence mechanisms by mimicry of human blood group antigens, conflicting reports have been published. We tested the hypothesis in American cutaneous leishmaniasis, due to L. braziliensis guyanensis, by comparing the distribution of blood groups (ABO and Rhesus) among 96 patients in French Guiana with that among 1945 healthy controls. No association between blood groups and disease was found in this study, but further studies are needed with strains of the L. mexicana complex.