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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Thromb Haemost 2024; 124(05): 432-440
DOI: 10.1055/a-2195-3927
Blood Cells, Inflammation, and Infection

Proteomic Characterization of Plasma in Lemierre's Syndrome

David Nygren
1   Division of Infection Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
2   Department of Infectious Diseases, Skåne University Hospital, Lund/Malmö, Sweden
,
Gustav Torisson
2   Department of Infectious Diseases, Skåne University Hospital, Lund/Malmö, Sweden
3   Department of Translational Medicine, Clinical Infection Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden
,
Lotta Happonen
1   Division of Infection Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
,
Lisa Mellhammar
1   Division of Infection Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
2   Department of Infectious Diseases, Skåne University Hospital, Lund/Malmö, Sweden
,
Adam Linder
1   Division of Infection Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
2   Department of Infectious Diseases, Skåne University Hospital, Lund/Malmö, Sweden
,
Johan Elf
4   Center of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
,
Hong Yan
5   The Swedish National Infrastructure for Biological Mass Spectrometry (BioMS), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
,
Charlotte Welinder
5   The Swedish National Infrastructure for Biological Mass Spectrometry (BioMS), Lund University, Lund, Sweden
,
Karin Holm
1   Division of Infection Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
2   Department of Infectious Diseases, Skåne University Hospital, Lund/Malmö, Sweden
› Author Affiliations Funding This work was supported by The Royal Physiographic Society in Lund, Region Skåne and the Swedish Government Funds for Clinical Research (ALF). In addition, support from the Swedish National Infrastructure for Biological Mass Spectrometry (BioMS) is gratefully acknowledged.
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Abstract

Background The underlying mechanisms of thrombosis in Lemierre's syndrome and other septic thrombophlebitis are incompletely understood. Therefore, in this case control study we aimed to generate hypotheses on its pathogenesis by studying the plasma proteome in patients with these conditions.

Methods All patients with Lemierre's syndrome in the Skåne Region, Sweden, were enrolled prospectively during 2017 to 2021 as cases. Age-matched patients with other severe infections were enrolled as controls. Patient plasma samples were analyzed using label-free data-independent acquisition liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Differentially expressed proteins in Lemierre's syndrome versus other severe infections were highlighted. Functions of differentially expressed proteins were defined based on a literature search focused on previous associations with thrombosis.

Results Eight patients with Lemierre's syndrome and 15 with other severe infections were compared. Here, 20/449 identified proteins were differentially expressed between the groups. Of these, 14/20 had functions previously associated with thrombosis. Twelve of 14 had a suggested prothrombotic effect in Lemierre's syndrome, whereas 2/14 had a suggested antithrombotic effect.

Conclusion Proteins involved in several thrombogenic pathways were differentially expressed in Lemierre's syndrome compared to other severe infections. Among identified proteins, several were associated with endothelial damage, platelet activation, and degranulation, and warrant further targeted studies.

Keywords

Lemierre's syndrome - septic thrombophlebitis - Fusobacterium necrophorum - mass spectrometry - thrombogenesis

Supplementary Material



Publication History

Received: 05 May 2023

Accepted: 18 October 2023

Accepted Manuscript online:
19 October 2023

Article published online:
07 February 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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