Thromb Haemost 2016; 115(04): 752-761
DOI: 10.1160/TH15-08-0654
Cellular Haemostasis and Platelets
Schattauer GmbH

Further insights into the anti-PF4/heparin IgM immune response

Krystin Krauel*
1   Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Germany
2   Zentrum für Innovationskompetenz - Humorale Immunreaktionen bei kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Annika Schulze*
2   Zentrum für Innovationskompetenz - Humorale Immunreaktionen bei kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Rabie Jouni
1   Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Christine Hackbarth
1   Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Germany
3   Klinik für Allgemein-, Viszeral-, Thorax- und Gefäβchirurgie, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Bernhard Hietkamp
,
Sixten Selleng
1   Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Andreas Koster
4   Institut für Anästhesiologie, Herz und Diabetes Zentrum NRW, Bad Oeynhausen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
,
Inga Jensch
2   Zentrum für Innovationskompetenz - Humorale Immunreaktionen bei kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Julia van der Linde
3   Klinik für Allgemein-, Viszeral-, Thorax- und Gefäβchirurgie, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Hansjörg Schwertz
1   Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Germany
5   Lichtenberg-Professor for Experimental Hemostasis, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
6   Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
7   Department of Surgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
,
Tamam Bakchoul
1   Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Matthias Hundt
2   Zentrum für Innovationskompetenz - Humorale Immunreaktionen bei kardiovaskulären Erkrankungen, Universität Greifswald, Germany
,
Andreas Greinacher
1   Institut für Immunologie und Transfusionsmedizin, Universität Greifswald, Germany
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 17 August 2015

Accepted after major revision: 27 September 2015

Publication Date:
28 November 2017 (online)

Summary

Anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4)/heparin antibodies are not only the cause of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia but might also play a role in the antibacterial host defence. Recently, marginal zone (MZ) B cells were identified to be crucial for anti-PF4/heparin IgG antibody production in mice. Combining human studies and a murine model of polymicrobial sepsis we further characterised the far less investigated anti-PF4/heparin IgM immune response. We detected anti-PF4/heparin IgM antibodies in the sera of paediatric patients < 6 months of age after cardiac surgery and in sera of splenectomised mice subjected to polymicrobial sepsis. In addition, PF4/heparin-specific IgM B cells were not only found in murine spleen, but also in peritoneum and bone marrow upon in vitro stimulation. Together, this indicates involvement of additional B cell populations, as MZ B cells are not fully developed in humans until the second year of life and are restricted to the spleen in mice. Moreover, PF4/heparin-specific B cells were detected in human cord blood upon in vitro stimulation and PF4-/- mice produced anti-PF4/heparin IgM antibodies after polymicrobial sepsis. In conclusion, the anti-PF4/heparin IgM response is a potential innate immune reaction driven by a B cell population distinct from MZ B cells.

Supplementary Material to this article is available online at www.thrombosis-online.com.

* Authors contributed equally to this work.


 
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