Extracellular Vesicles and Antiphospholipid Syndrome: State-of-the-Art and Future Challenges

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 9; p. 4689
• Main Authors: Štok, Ula, Čučnik, Saša, Sodin-Šemrl, Snežna, Žigon, Polona
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 28.04.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Anticoagulants; Antigens; Antiphospholipid antibodies; Antiphospholipid syndrome; Apoptosis; Autoimmune diseases; Biological materials; Biosynthesis; Blood platelets; Cardiovascular disease; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell signaling; Cytokines; Diabetes; Endothelial cells; Extracellular vesicles; Growth factors; Heat shock proteins; Hypertension; Inflammation; Kinases; Obstetrics; Pathology; Physiology; Plasma levels; Preeclampsia; Pregnancy; Pulmonary embolisms; Review; Thromboembolism; Thrombosis; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Vesicles; antiphospholipid syndrome; monocytes; endothelial cells; extracellular vesicles; thrombosis; trophoblasts; placental explants; preeclampsia; antiphospholipid antibodies; platelets
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22094689

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by thromboembolism, obstetric complications, and the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a key role in intercellular communication and connectivity and are known to be involved in endothelial and vascular pathologies. Despite well-characterized in vitro and in vivo models of APS pathology, the field of EVs remains largely unexplored. This review recapitulates recent findings on the role of EVs in APS, focusing on their contribution to endothelial dysfunction. Several studies have found that APS patients with a history of thrombotic events have increased levels of EVs, particularly of endothelial origin. In obstetric APS, research on plasma levels of EVs is limited, but it appears that levels of EVs are increased. In general, there is evidence that EVs activate endothelial cells, exhibit proinflammatory and procoagulant effects, interact directly with cell receptors, and transfer biological material. Future studies on EVs in APS may provide new insights into APS pathology and reveal their potential as biomarkers to identify patients at increased risk.