Abstract
Purpose
To compare plasma concentrations of all lectin pathway (LP) pattern recognition molecules (PRMs) in patients referred for laboratory evaluation due to recurrent infections with healthy individuals.
Methods
Patients were divided into categories according to referral: recurrent airway infections (RAI), recurrent abscesses, common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), lung transplantation candidates (LTX), and ‘other causes’. LP PRMs (mannose-binding lectin (MBL), collectin liver 1 (CL-L1), H-ficolin, L-ficolin, M-ficolin) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined in 332 patients and 150 healthy blood donors using time-resolved immunofluorometric assays.
Results
None of the LP PRMs was found in lower concentration in the patient categories; however, several PRMs were detected in higher concentrations. M-ficolin was found in higher concentrations in all patient categories. Patients suffering from RAI had higher concentrations of CL-L1 and H-ficolin. Patients suffering from abscesses exhibited higher concentrations of MBL and CL-L1, whereas LTX had higher concentrations of MBL. Patients with other causes of referral had higher concentrations of MBL and CL-L1. Prevalence of combined deficiencies of PRMs in patient categories and controls did not differ. CRP was used as a marker of ongoing inflammation and was significantly higher among all patient categories. Furthermore, CRP was found to correlate with both M-ficolin and L-ficolin.
Conclusion
The results suggest that neither single nor combined deficiencies of LP PRMs are more frequent among patients referred for an immunological evaluation than in healthy individuals. Future studies are needed and should focus on deficiencies of LP PRMs combined with deficiencies in other parts of the immune system.
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Abbreviations
- LP:
-
lectin pathway
- PRM:
-
pattern recognition molecule
- RAI:
-
recurrent airway infections
- CVID:
-
common variable immunodeficiency
- LTX:
-
lung transplantation candidates
- CRP:
-
C-reactive protein
- TRIFMA:
-
time-resolved immunofluorometric assay
- CV:
-
coefficient of variation
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Acknowledgements
We thank Karen Mathiassen, the Medical Research Laboratory, Aarhus University, for the technical assistance.
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The study was conducted under the approval by the Central Denmark Region Committees on Health Research Ethics (1-10-72-127-12) and the Danish Data Protection Agency (1-16-02-40-12). The study was performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki.
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Fig. S1
Plasma concentrations of PRMs in healthy controls and all patients. Bars indicate median and interquartile range or mean and standard deviation (MBL). Controls were compared to patients by t-tests or Wald test (MBL). (PNG 294 kb)
Table S1
Overview of the functions of lectin pathway pattern recognition molecules. (DOCX 34 kb)
Table S2
The concentration of lectin pathway PRMs in patients with known genetic abnormality. Category of patients is given: recurrent airway infections (RAI), recurrent abscesses (Abscess) and lung transplantation candidates (LTX). (DOCX 22 kb)
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Jørgensen, C.M., Jensen, L., Christiansen, M. et al. Pattern Recognition Molecules of the Lectin Pathway—Screening of Patients with Suspected Immunodeficiency. J Clin Immunol 39, 668–677 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-019-00675-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10875-019-00675-8