Manifestações clínicas e patogênese da plaquetopenia na malária

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2007

RESUMO

Thrombocytopenia is a well-known hematological complication of malaria, although its pathogenesis is still unclear. The objectives of the present work were to estimate the frequency and the clinical manifestations of thrombocytopenia in malaria, and to investigate a possible role for the circulating immune complexes (CIC) and of platelet aggregation in vitro in the generation of thrombocytopenia. The work was carried out in Manaus (Amazonas) from 2004 to 2006, by randomly selecting patients with a microscopic and molecular diagnosis of P. vivax malaria (n=142) and P. falciparum malaria (n=26), after excluding patients with other diseases. Individual and clinical features of the patients were studied, including the degree of parasitemia, blood cell counts, biochemical parameters, and coagulation indices. The CIC were quantified (n=48), and after IgG was eluted from the CIC of patients with severe thrombocytopenia. The in vitro effects of IgG binding to normal platelets in vitro (n=2), as well as in vivo, following intraperitoneal injection in a C57BL/6 healthy mouse (n=1) were assessed. Platelets incubated with CIC from patients with malaria and thrombocytopenia were examined for phagocytosis by THP-1 cells (n=3). Aggregation of normal platelets in the presence of lysates of blood stages of P. vivax and P. falciparum , and P. vivax sporozoite lysates was also noted. In the patients with complicated vivax malaria, subfamilies of vir genes were sequenced. Thrombocytopenia (platelets<150,000/μL) was found in 70.8% of the patients (IC95% 66.7-74.9%). Severe thrombocytopenia (platelets<50,000/μL) was found in 8.9% (IC95% 4.6-13.2%), and in 26.6% of these patients mild bleeding was seen. All of the patients with complicated falciparum malaria (n=3) or vivax malaria (n=2) presented severe thrombocytopenia. There was no difference between the median platelet count or frequency of thrombocytopenia in the patients with vivax (119.8 x 1000/μL; 71.8%) or falciparum malaria (122.6 x 1000/μL; 65.4%). Independent variables which were associated with thrombocytopenia included male gender, primary infection, and high parasitemia. The bleeding was associated with severe malaria. An inverse relationship between platelet count and median platelet volume for vivax malaria was identified (r= -0.527, p<0.01). Overall, there was no association between platelet count and CIC (r= -0.148; p=0.355). In vitro binding of IgG (CIC) to normal platelets was not detected, and there was no platelet destruction in the mouse after injection of IgG (CIC). Incubation of normal platelets with CIC inhibited their phagocytosis. Intense aggregation of normal platelets in the presence of lysates of P. vivax and P. falciparum was seen. No polymorphisms of the vir genes were identified in the parasites isolated from patients with severe vivax malaria. Taken together, data reported here show that thrombocytopenia is a frequent complication of malaria, with few clinical consequences, even in patients with severe thrombocytopenia. This could be explained by the release of large platelets from megakaryocytes, and the prominent activation of platelets by blood forms of Plasmodium spp. The association of high parasitemia and primary infection with thrombocytopenia suggests a multifactorial pathogenesis for this complication. The CIC do not appear to contribute to the decreased platelet counts seen in malaria, and auto-antibodies against platelets were not detected in the cases studied.

ASSUNTO(S)

immunology tropical medicine imunologia medicina tropical plasmodium hematologia platelets parasitologia malaria malária medicina hematology

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