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Review
. 2021 Jul 14:8:697804.
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.697804. eCollection 2021.

Neutrophil NETworking in ENL: Potential as a Putative Biomarker: Future Insights

Affiliations
Review

Neutrophil NETworking in ENL: Potential as a Putative Biomarker: Future Insights

Smrity Sahu et al. Front Med (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL), also known as type 2 reaction (T2R) is an immune complex mediated (type III hypersensitivity) reactional state encountered in patients with borderline lepromatous and lepromatous leprosy (BL and LL) either before, during, or after the institution of anti-leprosy treatment (ALT). The consequences of ENL may be serious, leading to permanent nerve damage and deformities, constituting a major cause of leprosy-related morbidity. The incidence of ENL is increasing with the increasing number of multibacillary cases. Although the diagnosis of ENL is not difficult to make for physicians involved in the care of leprosy patients, its management continues to be a most challenging aspect of the leprosy eradication program: the chronic and recurrent painful skin lesions, neuritis, and organ involvement necessitates prolonged treatment with prednisolone, thalidomide, and anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs, which further adds to the existing morbidity. In addition, the use of immunosuppressants like methotrexate, azathioprine, cyclosporine, or biologics carries a risk of reactivation of persisters (Mycobacterium leprae), apart from their own end-organ toxicities. Most ENL therapeutic guidelines are primarily designed for acute episodes and there is scarcity of literature on management of patients with chronic and recurrent ENL. It is difficult to predict which patients will develop chronic or recurrent ENL and plan the treatment accordingly. We need simple point-of-care or ELISA-based tests from blood or skin biopsy samples, which can help us in identifying patients who are likely to require prolonged treatment and also inform us about the prognosis of reactions so that appropriate therapy may be started and continued for better ENL control in such patients. There is a significant unmet need for research for better understanding the immunopathogenesis of, and biomarkers for, ENL to improve clinical stratification and therapeutics. In this review we will discuss the potential of neutrophils (polymorphonuclear granulocytes) as putative diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers by virtue of their universal abundance in human blood, functional versatility, phenotypic heterogeneity, metabolic plasticity, differential hierarchical cytoplasmic granule mobilization, and their ability to form NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps). We will touch upon the various aspects of neutrophil biology relevant to ENL pathophysiology in a step-wise manner. We also hypothesize about an element of metabolic reprogramming of neutrophils by M. leprae that could be investigated and exploited for biomarker discovery. In the end, a potential role for neutrophil derived exosomes as a novel biomarker for ENL will also be explored.

Keywords: ENL; NETs; biology; biomarker; exosomes; neutrophils; reprogramming.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Model depicting various approaches for exploring different aspects of neutrophil biology for future biomarker discovery. (1) Identification of adequate cut-off values of NLR and their longitudinal evaluations over a prolonged treatment period in larger study cohorts. (2) Elucidation of frequency as well as the expression of various activation surface markers for LDNs (and determination of their clinical significance in ENL pathophysiology). (3) Assessment of differences in neutrophil granules' protein content and their secretion. (4) Evaluation of serum levels of NETs/NETs associated proteins in prospective follow up studies of ENL patients and their correlation with disease activity and also investigation of ENL-specific bioactive proteins loaded on NETs. (5) Exploration of the hypothesis of “M leprae-induced transcriptional-reprogramming” in neutrophils/NETs resulting in alterations in biosynthetic pathways associated with neutrophil maturation, activation, and degranulation. (6) Investigation of functional and diagnostic potential of neutrophil-derived exosomal protein and/or miRNAs. NLR, Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; LDNs, low density neutrophils; ENL, eryhtema nodosum leprosum; NETs, neutrophil extracelluar traps; TLRs, Toll like receptors; CRs, complement receptors; MPO, Myeloperoxidase; BPI, Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein; NE, Neutrophil elastase; PTX3, Pentraxin-3.

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