Relationship between ABO blood group and gestational diabetes mellitus: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic disorder syndrome in women during pregnancy. If effective measures are not taken to intervene in the early stage of GDM, severe effects will damage maternal and infant health. ABO is the most important human blood group system. A large number of studies have displayed that ABO blood group is associated with many diseases. At present, the risk relationship between ABO blood group and GDM is controversial. The purpose of this study is to explore the risk relationship between ABO blood group and GDM by meta-analysis, thus providing basis for the prevention and treatment of GDM. Methods An electronic database, including Embase, Cochrane Library, Pubmed, Chinese databases SinoMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journals Database and Wanfang Data, will be used to search for studies of ABO blood group and GDM. The language will be limited to Chinese and English. The two reviewers will be responsible for the selection of the study, the extraction of data and the evaluation of the quality of the research. All statistical analyses will be carried out using Review Manager 5.3. Results The results of this meta-analysis will be published in peer-reviewed journals. Conclusion This study will provide evidence to support the relationship between ABO blood group and the risk of GDM. Ethics and dissemination The private information from individuals will not be published. This systematic review also will not involve endangering participant rights. Ethical approval is not required. The results may be published in a peer-reviewed journal or disseminated in relevant conferences. Osf registration number DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/W6QSX.