Jim Hoffman: Why NET-Removing Blood Purification Should Be a First Resort, Not a Last

Jim Hoffman, Former Technical Advisor at Cygnus Technologies, LLC, posted on LinkedIn:

“We should be investigating blood purification therapies that can help sick patients remove extracellular chromatin from the blood early on in response to all infections, since these therapies may help reduce illness severity, shorten recovery time, potentially reduce the need for toxic levels of antimicrobials and very likely could help prevent the development of more severe, life-threatening, sepsis-like illnesses, reducing the risk for hospitalization and ICU treatment. Instead, we could prognostically track this chromatin in the blood and potentially set up local wellness clinics capable of performing safe apheresis procedures to help sick patients remove it.

It is largely our dysregulated innate immune response to infection that matters most, and part of this damaging response is the direct result of persistent NETosis dysregulation, which needs more specific targeted therapy. Why not try extracorporeal blood purification treatments known to deplete extracellular chromatin, which have largely been used as a last resort treatment, known as “compassionate use”, earlier on in the course of post-infection illness, potentially minimizing NETosis-mediated injury?

Likewise, based on the observations of Hetland et al and a separate previous study by Holme et al, a similar persistent rise in extracellular chromatin, positively correlated with life-threatening complications in response to AVV vaccination, which most likely directly worsens blood hemostatic control. If true, why not try removing this elevated extracellular chromatin from the blood and see if it can help avert serious life-threatening VITT in response to vaccination gone wrong?

Title: Elevated NETs and Calprotectin Levels after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccination Correlate with the Severity of Side Effects

Authors: Geir Hetland, Magne Kristoffer Fagerhol, Markus Karl Hermann Wiedmann, Arne Vasli Lund Søraas, Mohammad Reza Mirlashari, Lise Sofie Haug Nissen-Meyer, Mette Stausland Istre, Pål Andre Holme, Nina Haagenrud Schultz

Hetland et al 2022

Read full paper here.

“Importantly, using hospital setting (outpatient, inpatient or ICU) as a proxy for disease severity, nucleosome levels increased with disease severity and may serve as a guiding biomarker for treatment” Holdenrieder et al

Title: Circulating Nucleosomes as Potential Markers to Monitor COVID-19 Disease Progression

Authors: Etienne Cavalier, Julien Guiot, Katharina Lechner, Alexander Dutsch, Mark Eccleston, Marielle Herzog, Thomas Bygott, Adrian Schomburg, Theresa Kelly, Stefan Holdenrieder

Holdenrieder et al 2021

Read full article here.

For more NETosis research in response to infections and vaccination, visit here.

Title: Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Go Viral

Authors: Günther Schönrich, Martin J Raftery

Reviewed by Schonrich and Raftery 16.00366/full 2016 “Supporting this idea, viral infections are associated with transient autoantibody production and are known to mimic SLE, induce SLE onset, or trigger lupus flares (88–90)”.

NET removal, a therapy known reduce the severity of lupus, what about comorbid infections? ‘Supporting this idea, viral infections are associated with transient autoantibody production and are known to mimic SLE, induce SLE onset, or trigger lupus flares (88–90)’.”

Quoting C.W. H.:

“COVID: It’s been a while, but the word triple-demic is making a comeback.

That’s because of a surge of three viruses happening right now: Flu, COVID and RSV cases are up by double digits in New York.

Flu is up 30%, RSV is up 35% and COVID cases are up 15% in New York State according to the most recent data from the state Department of Health.”

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