Causes of thrombocytopenia in chronic hepatitis C viral infection.
We retrospectively studied 89 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, including 50 chronic hepatitis (CH) cases, 18 liver cirrhosis (LC) cases, and 21 LC with hepatocellular carcinoma (LC + HCC) cases, with regard to various factors related with thrombocytopenia. The platelet count decreased with the stage advancement of liver diseases. Multiple regression analysis revealed that splenomegaly and von Willebrand factor (vWF) were explanatory variables that correlated with thrombocytopenia. Splenomegaly appears to be the most responsible factor, although there are a considerable number of thrombocytopenic cases without splenomegaly, suggesting other factors may also be responsible. The vWF level is inversely correlated with the platelet count. Soluble thrombomodulin, a marker of endothelial dysfunction, increases with the advancement of liver fibrosis. It is positively correlated with vWF and inversely with the platelet count. Our present results imply that vascular endothelial dysfunction is also involved in thrombocytopenia during chronic HCV infection.
Department of Clinical and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Yamanashi, Chuo, Japan.
Makoto
M
Osada
Makoto
M
Kaneko
Minoru
M
Sakamoto
Masumi
M
Endoh
Koichi
K
Takigawa
Katsue
K
Suzuki-Inoue
Osamu
O
Inoue
Kaneo
K
Satoh
Nobuyuki
N
Enomoto
Yutaka
Y
Yatomi
Yukio
Y
Ozaki
D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D014841:von Willebrand Factor / Q000378:metabolism
D014841:von Willebrand Factor