Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Plasma proteomics analyses were performed to identify novel disease state biomarkers of hereditary angioedema due to C1 inhibitor deficiency (HAE-C1INH) and investigate the biological consequences of specific plasma kallikrein inhibition with lanadelumab. METHODS: Affinity proteomic analyses were performed using plasma from healthy controls (n=30) and patients with HAE-C1INH before (baseline, n=125) and after 6 months of treatment with lanadelumab (300 mg every 2 weeks, n=112) using the SomaScan platform. RESULTS: Relative plasma levels for several proteins differed significantly between controls and patients with HAE-C1INH, and between matched baseline and post-treatment samples from patients with HAE-C1INH. As expected, C1 inhibitor and complement C4 were significantly lower (P<1.10e-39 false discovery rate [fdr], P<6.6e-25 fdr, respectively) in HAE-C1INH baseline plasma versus controls. Cleaved high-molecular-weight kininogen, a biomarker of excess kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) activation, was higher in HAE-C1INH baseline plasma versus controls (P<6.7e-6 fdr) and was reduced in HAE-C1INH plasma after lanadelumab treatment. Of 1041 identified proteins that differed significantly (P<0.05) from controls and HAE-C1INH baseline plasma, 120 proteins were no longer different between controls and patients with HAE-C1INH after 6 months of lanadelumab treatment. Canonical pathway and local network analyses of HAE-C1INH plasma proteomics suggest dysregulation in KKS, coagulation, cell adhesion, and connective tissue degradation that approach that of healthy controls following treatment with lanadelumab. CONCLUSION: Proteomic analyses of plasma from patients with HAE-C1INH before and after treatment with lanadelumab compared with healthy controls confirmed known HAE-C1INH biomarkers and identified additional potential biomarkers of plasma kallikrein dysregulation for further investigation.