Dr. Fortin says, “As a clinical rheumatologist, I have never been exposed to thinking of platelets as immune cells.” He now wonders if platelets may be the missing link for an improved understanding of disease.
“When we have evidence of controlled disease in patients with lupus, those patients still have mitochondrial DNA,” says Dr. Fortin. He suggests an underlying pathophysiology may exist that current treatments are not completely addressing. He notes this missing piece may be important because even patients with controlled disease are at increased risk of accelerated scarring of the vascular system, as well as cardiovascular disease.
“Vascular disease in patients with lupus is complex,” says Dr. Fortin, noting that even low-grade levels of inflammation have been associated with cardiovascular disease.
Although Dr. Fortin acknowledges the new findings do not have an immediate application for changing practice, he calls rheumatologists’ attention to the fact that mouse models may be missing a critical part of the inflammatory puzzle: platelets.
Lara C. Pullen, PhD, is a medical writer based in the Chicago area.
Reference
- Melki I, Allaeys I, Tessandier N, et al. Platelets release mitochondrial antigens in systemic lupus erythematosus. Sci Transl Med. 2021 Feb 17;13(581):eaav5928.
