Heart Vascular and Thoracic Institute, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Section of Vascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Lerner Research Institute, Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Genes (Basel). 2024 Jun 4;15(6):737. doi: 10.3390/genes15060737.
Lipedema and lymphedema are physically similar yet distinct diseases that are commonly misdiagnosed. We previously reported that lipedema and lymphedema are associated with increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). The underlying etiology of the prothrombotic profile observed in lipedema and lymphedema is unclear, but may be related to alterations in platelets. Our objective was to analyze the platelet transcriptome to identify biological pathways that may provide insight into platelet activation and thrombosis. The platelet transcriptome was evaluated in patients with lymphedema and lipedema, then compared to control subjects with obesity. Patients with lipedema were found to have a divergent transcriptome from patients with lymphedema. The platelet transcriptome and impacted biological pathways in lipedema were surprisingly similar to weight-matched comparators, yet different when compared to overweight individuals with a lower body mass index (BMI). Differences in the platelet transcriptome for patients with lipedema and lymphedema were found in biological pathways required for protein synthesis and degradation, as well as metabolism. Key differences in the platelet transcriptome for patients with lipedema compared to BMI-matched subjects involved metabolism and glycosaminoglycan processing. These inherent differences in the platelet transcriptome warrant further investigation, and may contribute to the increased risk of thrombosis in patients with lipedema and lymphedema.
脂肪水肿和淋巴水肿在身体上相似，但却是两种不同的疾病，常被误诊。我们之前曾报道过脂肪水肿和淋巴水肿与静脉血栓栓塞症（VTE）风险增加有关。在脂肪水肿和淋巴水肿中观察到的促血栓形成特征的潜在病因尚不清楚，但可能与血小板的改变有关。我们的目的是分析血小板转录组，以确定可能为血小板激活和血栓形成提供深入了解的生物学途径。评估了淋巴水肿和脂肪水肿患者的血小板转录组，然后将其与肥胖的对照组进行比较。结果发现，脂肪水肿患者的转录组与淋巴水肿患者的转录组不同。脂肪水肿患者的血小板转录组和受影响的生物学途径与体重匹配的对照组非常相似，但与体重指数（BMI）较低的超重个体相比则不同。脂肪水肿患者和淋巴水肿患者的血小板转录组在蛋白质合成和降解以及代谢所需的生物学途径中存在差异。与 BMI 匹配的对照组相比，脂肪水肿患者的血小板转录组在代谢和糖胺聚糖处理方面存在关键差异。这些血小板转录组的固有差异值得进一步研究，可能导致脂肪水肿和淋巴水肿患者血栓形成风险增加。
