The Role of Anti-CD36 Antibodies in Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia

Abstract

Platelet reactive antibodies against polymorphic structures residing on platelet glycoproteins are a common cause of immune-mediated thrombocytopenias such as platelet transfusion refractoriness (PTR), post-transfusion purpura (PTP), or foetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT). In contrast to Caucasians, alloantibodies against HPA-1a do not seem to play an important role in Asian populations. Until recently, the role of anti-CD36 antibodies in the pathomechanism of immune-mediated thrombocytopenia has been underappreciated. Recent data has indicated that CD36 isoantibodies produced by CD36 type I-deficient individuals seem more common in Asian and African populations.In this study, we highlighted the clinical relevance of anti-CD36 in the development of FNAIT, developed new laboratory diagnostics for the identification of anti-CD36 antibodies, and established an animal model to understand the pathomechanism of anti-CD36-mediated thrombocytopenia and used this to test different treatment approaches.