Lymphocyte-Platelet and Neutrophil-Platelet Aggregates are Associated with Dysregulated Platelet Inflammatory Pathways in Psoriasis
Richard Ni, Isabelle L. Boothman, Filipp Kazatsker, Elliot Luttrell-Williams, Kamelia Drenkova, Florencia Schlamp, Astrid Jara Pernia, Nicole L. Ward, Brittany Weber, Tessa J. Barrett, Jeffrey S. Berger, Michael S. GarshickBackground
Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease associated with heightened cardiovascular risk. Platelets are increasingly implicated in this link through their capacity to amplify vascular inflammation and interact with leukocytes. Circulating leukocyte–platelet aggregates are elevated in psoriasis, although the biological significance of these aggregates remains incompletely understood. We investigated whether increased leukocyte–platelet aggregates is associated with alterations in the platelet transcriptomic profile in psoriasis.
Methods
Leukocyte–platelet aggregate levels were compared between psoriasis patients (n = 42) and healthy controls (n = 29). Psoriasis patients were stratified by the cohort median lymphocyte-platelet aggregate (LyPA) or neutrophil-platelet aggregate (NPA) levels into high vs low aggregate groups. Platelet RNA sequencing was then performed to define transcriptomic differences in high-vs low-aggregate psoriasis.
Results
Psoriasis patients (mean age 46; 60% male; 81% Caucasian) had higher LyPA (
Conclusion
These findings identify inflammatory platelet transcriptomic alterations associated with elevated lymphocyte-platelet and neutrophil-platelet aggregates in psoriasis and motivate further work to define the functional consequences of leukocyte-platelet aggregates in psoriasis.