Taken together, these results suggest that the binding of DENV NS1 to TLR4 on platelets can trigger its activation, which may contribute to thrombocytopenia and hemorrhage during dengue infection.
There is limited evidence thus far to suggest that toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) and platelet-leukocyte aggregate (PLA) formation may be implicated in the development of sepsis-associated thrombocytopenia.
These results suggest that platelets express various TLRs and that the functional significance of one of these, TLR4, appears to be a role in the modulation of LPS-induced thrombocytopenia and TNF-alpha production.