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Pattern Recognition Molecules of the Lectin Pathway—Screening of Patients with Suspected Immunodeficiency

Journal of Clinical Immunology volume 39, pages 668–677 (2019)Cite this article

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.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Wilhelm Meyers Allé 4, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark

    Clara Mistegård Jørgensen, Lisbeth Jensen & Steffen Thiel

  2. Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    Clara Mistegård Jørgensen

  3. Department of Clinical Medicine - Department of Clinical Immunology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    Mette Christiansen & Jens Magnus Bernth Jensen

  4. Department of Clinical Medicine - Medical Research Laboratory, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Mette Bjerre

Authors
  1. Clara Mistegård Jørgensen
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  2. Lisbeth Jensen
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  3. Mette Christiansen
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  5. Jens Magnus Bernth Jensen
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  6. Steffen Thiel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Clara Mistegård Jørgensen.

Ethics declarations

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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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Fig. S1
figure 4

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)

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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

Keywords

  • Immunodeficiency
  • Complement
  • Lectin pathway
  • Immunological evaluation
  • Screening