Proteomic Profiling of Age-Related Proteins Following Extracorporeal Apheresis

Lipoprotein apheresis (LA) is often the last option to adequately reduce lipoproteins in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia and lipoprotein (a) hyperlipidemia. Characterized by mild side effects, it is now the most effective method of preventing major cardiovascular events (CVEs). This benefit is due not only to the lowering of lipoprotein levels, but probably also to many other pleiotropic effects that have been extensively described in the literature. These include the reduction of inflammatory signaling substances, fibrinogen, plasminogen or components of the oxidative stress response. Here, we performed a proteomic analysis of 12 patients treated with therapeutic apheresis using two different pore size filters to quantify the effect on age-related plasma proteins. This study showed that important proteins such as α-2-macroglobulin, apolipoprotein C-III, complement C1s subcomponent, C4b-binding protein alpha chain, CD5 antigen-like and pregnancy zone protein, whose role in numerous aging processes has been well described, were significantly reduced by apheresis treatment. We conclude that therapeutic apheresis may be a promising approach to reduce these age-related proteins and that these treatments may become an essential part of managing cardiovascular risk in an aging population.