Pathogenic Mechanisms of Thrombosis in Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS)

The term "antiphospholipid syndrome" (APS) was coined in the early '80s to describe a unique form of acquired autoimmune thrombophilia, with clinical features of recurrent thrombosis and pregnancy morbidity, combined with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL). aPL consist a heterogeneous group of autoantibodies, which recognize phospholipid-protein complexes or rather proteins with high affinity for phospholipids, such as ┚2-glycoprotein I (┚2GPI) and prothrombin. This heterogeneity reflects the nature of the antigen recognized by each antibody and it is expressed with different pathogenic mechanisms. Although a broad spectrum of aPL exists, the universally accepted diagnostic aPL tests are lupus anticoagulant (LA); anticardiolipin (anti-CL); and anti–┚2-glycoprotein I antibodies (anti-┚2GPI) (Table 1). These autoantibodies interfere with physiological mechanisms of coagulation and fibrinolysis, leading the hemostatic balance towards coagulation. Moreover, it seems to affect the physiological function of various cells such as platelets, monocytes and endothelial cells (EC). However, not all aPL are pathogenic; transient increase in aPL during several infections has been observed. Although aPL can cause clinical manifestations of almost every organ in the body (e.g. blood vessels, brain, kidneys, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, placenta), the common hallmark of the syndrome is thrombosis, either arterial, venous or in the microcirculation.