New research may help shed light on a rare but serious blood-clotting problem associated with the COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
Five unrelated people with this clotting complication, known as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, all had unusually-structured antibodies against a protein called PF4 that is involved in blood clotting, the researchers found. Furthermore, all five had a specific version of a gene responsible for producing these antibodies, they reported on Monday on medRxiv ahead of peer review.
“The combination of a variant in a gene and the evolution of this antibody towards targeting in a highly deleterious manner the PF4 protein… leads to this disastrous complication,” the researchers said.
The prevalence of this gene varies and is highest in people of European descent, according to the report.
The finding “paves the way for a potential genetic screening tool to identify patients carrying this gene variant who are at risk of this severe complication” after receipt of these vaccines, said Tom Gordon and Jing Jing Wang of Flinders University of South Australia, two of the study’s authors.
“Additionally, this provides a unique opportunity for targeted, specific therapy development aimed at neutralizing this highly damaging but very specific antibody.”
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