Survival advantage of heterozygous factor V Leiden carriers in murine sepsis

The high allelic frequency of the prothrombotic Leiden polymorphism in human blood coagulation factor V (FV) has been speculated to reflect positive selection during evolution. Heterozygous Leiden carriers enrolled in the placebo arm of the PROWESS sepsis trial and heterozygous Leiden mice challenged with endotoxin both showed reduced mortality, whereas homozygous Leiden mice were not protected from lethal endotoxemia. Follow-up analyses of clinical outcomes and of mouse models of infection with various pathogens remained inconclusive.

To establish whether activated protein C resistance of FV Leiden modifies the outcome of bacterial infection in murine sepsis models.

Homozygous and heterozygous FV Leiden mice were subjected to gram-positive (S. aureus) or gram-negative (Y. pestis; E. coli) septic peritonitis or polymicrobial, focal septic peritonitis induced by cecal ligation and puncture. The effect of FV Leiden on 7-day survival and bacterial dissemination was assessed. Outcomes were compared with the sepsis survival of mice with genetically impaired hemostasis (hemophilia A, thrombocytopenia, thrombin receptor PAR4 [protease activated receptor 4] deficiency, endothelial protein C receptor [ProcR/EPCR] deficiency).

Heterozygous, but not homozygous, Leiden mice were protected from lethal infection with highly virulent S. aureus and Y. pestis strains. FV Leiden did not affect the outcome of sepsis induced by cecal ligation and puncture, staphylokinase-deficient S. aureus, Pla-deficient Y. pestis, or E. coli. Thrombocytopenia, deficiency of PAR1 or PAR4 did not affect S. aureus sepsis survival, whereas hemophilia A increased mortality. ProcR deficiency selectively abolished the survival advantage of heterozygous Leiden mice.

In mice, heterozygous FV Leiden carriers are protected from sepsis mortality after infection with clinically relevant human bacterial pathogens.