Submit a comment
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 1987;80(5):1503-1506. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI113233.
Abstract
Systemic viral infection is a known precipitant of vasocclusive crisis in sickle patients, but the mechanism underlying this clinical observation is unknown. In the present studies, human umbilical vein endothelial cells were infected with Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV) to model systemic viral disease. The already abnormal adherence of sickle erythrocytes to control endothelium is enhanced 1.8 +/- 0.4-fold to HSV-infected endothelium (P less than 0.001). This component of potentiated adherence is eliminated by maneuvers that block Fc receptors, it is prevented by tunicamycin, and it is not seen using a mutant HSV that is unable to express the Fc receptor glycoprotein. Thus, the incremental adherence seen here occurs due to expression of Fc receptor activity on HSV-infected endothelium and the consequent recognition of abnormal amounts of IgG on sickle erythrocytes. We conclude that systemic viral infection potentially can induce a novel mechanism for enhancement of erythrocyte adherence to endothelium and that this may increase the likelihood of vasocclusion during viral infection.
Authors
R P Hebbel, M R Visser, J L Goodman, H S Jacob, G M Vercellotti
Guidelines
The Editorial Board will only consider comments that are deemed relevant and of interest to readers. The Journal will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review; or a comment that is essentially a reiteration of another comment.
- Comments appear on the Journal’s website and are linked from the original article’s web page.
- Authors are notified by email if their comments are posted.
- The Journal reserves the right to edit comments for length and clarity.
- No appeals will be considered.
- Comments are not indexed in PubMed.
Specific requirements
- Maximum length, 400 words
- Entered as plain text or HTML
- Author’s name and email address, to be posted with the comment
- Declaration of all potential conflicts of interest (even if these are not ultimately posted); see the Journal’s conflict-of-interest policy
- Comments may not include figures
Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)