Effects of Quercetin on Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation in Sickle Cell Disease

Introduction: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is characterized by chronic inflammation with innate immune cell activation, especially observed in neutrophils. Emerging evidence implicates the imbalance between neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation and degradation as having a central role in the pathophysiology of thromboinflammation and venous thrombosis. Although NETosis and NET formation influences venous thromboembolism (VTE) pathophysiology, little is known about baseline and agonist-induced NETosis in SCD. We hypothesized that systemic neutrophil activation would lead to higher baseline and agonist induced NETosis in SCD and would influence phenotypic variability. To test this hypothesis, we assessed baseline and agonist induced NETosis in patients with SCD and ethnic matched controls. We also investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of flavonoid Quercetin on neutrophil activation.