Active thrombopoiesis is associated with worse severity and activity of chronic GVHD

T. Bat, S. M. Steinberg, R. Childs, K. R. Calvo, A. J. Barrett, M. Battiwalla, K. Baird, D. Zhang, D. Pulanic, C. E. Dunbar, S. Z. Pavletic

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Chronic GVHD (cGVHD) is a major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic SCT. Post transplant thrombocytopenia in patients with cGVHD has been associated with poor outcome and its etiology is unclear. We investigated whether thrombopoiesis, assessed via measurement of the absolute immature platelet number (AIPN) in the blood, is impaired in cGVHD, and whether the level of thrombopoiesis correlates with the severity and activity of cGVHD as assessed via the National Institutes of Health (NIH) organ scoring system. We used a cohort of 110 well-characterized cGVHD patients, including 83 (75%) with severe cGVHD per NIH global score. Higher AIPN was associated with active therapeutic intent (P=0.026), lower Karnofsky score (P=0.0013), worse joint/fascia cGVHD (P=0.0005) and worse skin cGVHD (P=0.0044). AIPN correlated with platelet counts and was not correlated with ANC, WBC, C-reactive protein (CRP), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), albumin, total and average NIH scores, or number of prior systemic therapies. AIPN values for cGVHD patients substantially overlapped those of the normal population. Higher AIPN, as marker of active thrombopoiesisis, was associated with worse severity and activity of cGVHD, especially skin and joints/fascia manifestations. Among patients with stable moderate or severe cGVHD, there was no evidence of hypoproduction of platelets. Future studies should further investigate the role of thrombopoiesis in cGVHD.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1569-1573
Number of pages5
JournalBone Marrow Transplantation
Volume48
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • AIPN
  • Chronic GVHD
  • NIH score
  • platelets

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Hematology
  • Transplantation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Active thrombopoiesis is associated with worse severity and activity of chronic GVHD'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this