The mechanisms of triggering complement activation in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25461466
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Collagenous pathology/Allergology
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: OKU KENJI 北海道大学, 大学病院, 助教 (70544295)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 抗リン脂質抗体症候群 / 補体古典経路 / 抗C1q抗体 / C1q

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Antiphospholipid syndrome(APS)is an autoimmune disease that is characterized with the arterial/venous thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidity in the presence of antiphospholipid antibody(aPL). Complement activation is one of the major pathogenesis besides procoagulant activity of the aPL. We have investigated the origination of the complement activation and clarified that the 1) autoantibodies against the 1st component(C1q) of the complement system is frequently observed in the sera of patients with APS and the high titer of the autoantibodies significantly observed in the refractory APS 2) The presence of the anti-C1q antibodies is related with the activation of early components of the complement system 3) monoclonal anti-C1q antibodies activated monocytes or endothelial cells and induced procoagulant activities in vitro. As anti-C1q antibodies are readily inhibited with the immunosuppressants, there is a possibility that the refractory APS patients may effectively be treated.

Free Research Field

抗リン脂質抗体症候群を中心とした自己免疫疾患の研究