Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

At least 30% of patients admitted into the hospital will be exposed to heparin. However, up to 5% of patients can have an adverse drug reaction against heparin where the body mounts an immune response and subsequently activates platelets. This disorder has been named heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Prompt diagnosis and treatments mitigate the life-threatening complications of HIT. There are numerous challenges to quick and reliable diagnosis of HIT. The golden standard for testing HIT can be done in only six laboratories across Canada. The test available in most hospitals have high false-positive rate due to recognize specifically the class of antibodies that cause HIT. To improve HIT diagnosis, we will identify the molecular differences between the antibodies that cause HIT and those that do not. This will be done through developing mutants of the HIT antibody target. Each mutant target will be tested for its ability to incite HIT in the presence of known HIT antibodies. This will allow us to identify a specific binding site for pathogenic HIT antibodies. From this, we can develop a new diagnostic assay that will be able to dictate whether the antibodies found in patients are specific in causing HIT. HIT can lead to the loss of limbs, strokes, or death if not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner. Therefore, the development of a rapid and accurate diagnostic test will improve the management of HIT patients. In addition to a robust application for diagnosing HIT, the binding site of pathogenic HIT antibodies identified by this research may also improve HIT therapeutics, as blocking of these targets may inhibit pathogenic antibodies in the circulation of HIT patients.