Complement activation assessed by the plasma terminal complement complex and future risk of venous thromboembolism

Abstract

BackgroundIt remains uncertain whether activation of the complement system, assessed by the soluble terminal C5b‐9 complement complex (plasma TCC), is associated with future risk of incident venous thromboembolism (VTE). ObjectivesTo investigate the association between plasma levels of TCC and future risk of incident VTE in a nested case‐control study, and to explore genetic variants associated with TCC using protein quantitative trait loci analysis of exome sequencing data. MethodsWe sampled 415 VTE cases and 848 age‐ and sex‐matched controls from a population‐based cohort, the Tromsø study. Logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for VTE across quartiles of plasma levels of TCC. Whole exome sequencing was conducted using the Agilent SureSelect 50 Mb capture kit. ResultsThe risk of VTE increased across increasing quartiles of plasma TCC, particularly for unprovoked VTE. Participants with TCC in the highest quartile (>1.40 complement arbitrary units/mL) had an odds ratio for unprovoked VTE of 1.74 (95% confidence interval: 1.10–2.78) compared with those with TCC in the lowest quartile (≤0.80 complement arbitrary units/mL) in analyses adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index. A substantially higher risk for VTE was observed in samples taken shortly before VTE event. We found no association between genome‐wide or complement‐related gene variants and plasma levels of TCC. ConclusionsWe found that high levels of plasma TCC were associated with VTE risk, and unprovoked events in particular. There was no genome‐wide association between gene variants and plasma levels of TCC.