Journal article

Prothrombotic autoantibodies targeting platelet factor 4/polyanion are associated with pediatric cerebral malaria

IM Vera, A Kessler, V Harawa, A Ahmadu, TE Keller, STJ Ray, TE Taylor, SJ Rogerson, WL Mandala, MR Gil, KB Seydel, K Kim

Journal of Clinical Investigation | AMER SOC CLINICAL INVESTIGATION INC | Published : 2024

Abstract

BACKGROUND. Features of consumptive coagulopathy and thromboinflammation are prominent in cerebral malaria (CM). We hypothesized that thrombogenic autoantibodies contribute to a procoagulant state in CM. METHODS. Plasma from children with uncomplicated malaria (UM) (n = 124) and CM (n = 136) was analyzed by ELISA for a panel of 8 autoantibodies including anti–platelet factor 4/polyanion (anti-PF4/P), anti-phospholipid, anti-phosphatidylserine, anti-myeloperoxidase, anti–proteinase 3, anti-dsDNA, anti–β-2-glycoprotein I, and anti-cardiolipin. Plasma samples from individuals with nonmalarial coma (NMC) (n = 49) and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 56) were assayed for comparison. Associations with ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Burroughs Wellcome Fund


Funding Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the patients and their families for their con-sent to participate in our studies. We give thanks to the staff of the BMP for sharing facilities and aiding with sample collection and processing. We are grateful to the staff (Julissa Pena, Mayra Almonte, Leli Serrano, and Geovanna Cruz) supervised by Morayma Reyes Gil of the Hematology Clinical Laboratory, Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, New York, USA) for their assistance and technical advice with HIT diagnostic tests. We also thank Samantha Chalmers and Chaim Putterman for SLE control samples and help with the anti-dsDNA antibody assays. This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Project grant APP1061993 (to SJR), the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) Einstein-Montefiore CTSA grant TL1TR001072 (to AK), NIH grant 5U01AI126610 (to TET), and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (to AK) .