Investigating The Role of Metal Cations within Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT)

Abstract

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a rare immune disorder induced by exposure to heparin, in which antibodies are generated against heparin–platelet factor 4 (PF4) complexes. The high affinity between cations and heparin due to two different charges plays an essential role in some heparin–protein interactions. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine whether metal cations contribute to heparin–PF4 interaction. Differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF) was used in this study to evaluate this role by studying cations effect on protein stability in the heparin interaction. Twelve types of heparin cations including heparin sodium, heparin cobalt, heparin lithium, heparin potassium, heparin manganese, heparin calcium, heparin barium, heparin magnesium, heparin copper (II), heparin zinc, heparin silver and heparin ammonium were prepared to study effect of these heparin cations on PF4 stability