March 2022

ENT

ANTI-PHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES ARE ELEVATED AND FUNCTIONALLY ACTIVE IN CHRONIC RHINOSINUSITIS WITH NASAL POLYPS

Featuring: ​ Bruce K Tan, MD​, David B. Conley, MD, Robert C Kern, MD
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Read the full study here.


Abstract
Background: Polyps from patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) contain increased levels of autoreactive antibodies, B cells and fibrin deposition. Anti-phospholipid antibodies (APA) are autoantibodies known to cause thrombosis but have not been implicated in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

Objective: To compare APA levels (anti-cardiolipin, anti-phosphatidylethanolamine (anti-PE), and anti-β2 -glycoprotein (anti-B2GP)) in nasal polyp (NP) tissue with tissue from control and CRS without nasal polyp (CRSsNP) patients, we tested whether NP antibodies affect coagulation, and correlate APAs with anti-dsDNA IgG and markers of coagulation.

Methods: Patient specimens were assayed for APA IgG, anti-dsDNA IgG and thrombin-anti-thrombin (TaT) complex by ELISA. Antibodies from a subset of specimens were tested for modified activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) measured on an optical-mechanical coagulometer.

Results: Anti-cardiolipin IgG in NP was 5-fold higher than control tissue (p < .0001). NP antibodies prolonged aPTT compared to control tissue antibodies at 400 µg/mL (36.7 s vs. 33.8 s, p = .024) and 600 µg/mL (40.9 s vs. 34.7 s, p = .0037). Anti-PE IgG antibodies were increased in NP (p = .027), but anti-B2GP IgG was not significantly higher (p = .084). All APAs correlated with anti-dsDNA IgG levels, which were also elevated (R = .77, .71 and .54, respectively, for anti-cardiolipin, anti-PE, and anti-B2GP; all p < .001), but only anti-cardiolipin (R = .50, p = .0185) and anti-PE (R = 0.45, p = .037) correlated with TaT complex levels.
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Conclusions: APA IgG antibodies are increased in NP and correlate with autoreactive tissue antibodies. NP antibodies have in vitro anti-coagulant activity similar to those observed in anti-phospholipid syndrome, suggesting that they may have pro-coagulant effects in polyp tissue.


This abstract was originally published in the International Forum Allergy & Rhinology on March 6, 2022. ​
Bruce K Tan, MD​, associate professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery  and Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine.
David B. Conley, MD, associate professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.
Robert C Kern, MD, chair of the department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, George A. Sisson, MD, and professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and Allergy and Immunology in the Department of Medicine.

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