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    Poster Networking

    Hemostatic Systems in Cancer, Inflammation and Immunity

    Poster Networking Session

    PB0753 - Circulating levels of podoplanin in sickle cell disease

    Monday, June 26, 2023
    18:30 – 19:30 ET
    Room: Exhibition
    Background: Podoplanin (PDPN) is a protein involved in inflammatory hemostasis through its interaction with the CLEC-2 receptor on platelets. Recent evidence suggest that PDPN can also mediate thrombosis induced by inflammatory stimuli. Hypercoagulability is a hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD), and is at least partly mediated by proteins involved in the concomitant activation of inflammation and hemostasis (immunothrombosis).

    Aims: To measure circulating levels of PDPN in SCD and explore their association with markers of coagulation or platelet activation.

    Methods: Steady-state SCD patients were recruited from our outpatient clinic. PDPN levels were measured in plasma using a commercial ELISA kit. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from medical records.

    Results: Patient characteristics are shown in table 1. Homozygous SCD (SS) patients presented higher PDPN levels than SC patients (p < 0.01) (figure 1), with levels that are higher than those reported in the literature for healthy individuals in independent studies (1.21± 0.12). No correlation could be observed between PDPN and any of the explored parameters, except for a negative correlation (R=-0.40; P=0.03) with segmented neutrophil counts.

    Conclusion(s): Our preliminary study suggests that circulating levels of PDPN are elevated in homozygous SCD. Additional studies are needed to confirm these results and explore whether PDPN is involved in the pathogenesis of hypercoagulability in SCD.