Volumen: 19 # Number : 3
Publication Date : Septiembre - Diciembre Year: 2015
Immunothrombosis: implications of neutrophil
extracellular traps in the development and progression
of venous thromboembolic disease.
Authors: Aranda F, Perés Wingeyer S y de Larrañaga G.
Abstract: It was long thought that platelets were exclusively
involved in the haemostatic system and that
leukocytes were only part of the immune response.
However, this paradigm has been shifted, and
it has been recognized that there is a cross-talk
between these two systems, with both platelets and
leukocytes as key effectors that have immunological
and haemostatic roles.
The infectious processes are a major risk factor for
thrombosis. In fact, the term immunothrombosis
has been coined, defined as an innate immune
response that involves the formation of a thrombus
in a blood vessel and promotes the confinement
and destruction of pathogenic microorganisms. In
this response, both immunological and haemostatic
factors are involved.
Almost a decade ago, it was described that neutrophils
display an extracellular mechanism that allows
them to confine and destroy microorganisms. This
novel mechanism involves the release of networkshaped
structures, termed neutrophil extracellular
traps (NETs), composed of DNA, histones and other
proteins with antimicrobial activity, in response
to the presence of pathogenic microorganisms.
Furthermore, NETs are also formed in response to
different inflammatory stimuli, as in pathologies
like small vessel vasculitis, pre-eclampsia and
different types of tumors. NETs could be a key
link between inflammation and thrombosis, mainly
being involved in the scaffolding that gives stability
to the thrombus.
Different elements that are part of the NETs
structure have a great potential as thrombotic
biomarkers. In addition, elucidating the role of
NETs in the thrombotic pathophysiology might
offer new possibilities for preventing thrombosis
and improving thrombolytic therapy.
Key words: immunothrombosis,
neutrophil extracellular traps,
haemostasis,
venous thromboembolic disease.
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