title: Decreased in vitro megakaryocyte colony formation in chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.
abstract: In vitro megakaryocyte colony formation was studied in 25 patients with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and compared to 16 controls. A significantly lower number of megakaryocyte progenitors (CFU-MK) was observed in patients (10.8 +/- 12.0 CFU-MK per 10(5) bone-marrow non-adherent mononuclear cells (NAMC), compared to controls (22.5 +/- 15.4 CFU-MK); P < 0.002. Only six patients had a normal number of CFU-MK. The number of CFU-MK was not correlated to initial platelet count (P = 0.35). These findings indicate that in vitro CFU-MK could be of interest in the diagnosis of chronic ITP, and also could be predictive for chronicity in patients with acute ITP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, University of Brest, School of Medicine, France.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Abgrall
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berthou
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sensebé
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Niger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Escoffre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008533:Megakaryocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D016553:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic, Idiopathic / Q000473:pathology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology