Non-secretion of ABO blood group antigens: a host factor predisposing to recurrent urinary tract infections and renal scarring.

In a study of 718 women referred for specialist investigation for recurrent urinary tract infections, 250 (34.8%, P less than 0.01) were non-secretors. The proportion of non-secretors among the women with renal scars (42.6%) was higher than that found for women with no evidence of renal scars (36.6%). Among 29 patients in whom symptoms began in childhood or adolescence, 51.7% were non-secretors. The proportion of non-secretors among individuals with renal scars in this study (42.6%) and that reported in the accompanying paper for Swedish children (40%) suggests that non-secretion might influence the pathogenic sequelae of these infections. Possible host-parasite interactions underlying the increased proportion of non-secretors among women with recurrent urinary tract infections and those leading to development of renal scars are discussed.