title: Human platelet antigen-3 genotype predicts platelet count in patients with HCV infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A low platelet count is one of the most sensitive tests for cirrhosis detection in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We evaluated whether the human platelet antigen (HPA) genotype could predict platelet count in HCV-positive patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We genotyped the HPA 1, 2, 3, 5 and 15 polymorphisms in consecutive patients with HCV infection.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 56 patients enrolled, 56.1% had liver cirrhosis. The mean platelet count was significantly lower in those with HPA1aa genotype than in those with HPA1ab/bb genotype. Platelet count did not differ among the other HPA polymorphisms. However, at logistic regression analysis, only the HPA3aa genotype and liver cirrhosis were independent predictors of a low platelet count.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HPA3aa is an independent factor for a low platelet count in this cohort of patients with HCV chronic infection regardless of disease stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Section of Infectious Diseases, Federico II University of Naples, via S. Pansini 5, I-80131 Naples, Italy. ivan.gentile@unina.it.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meola
authors.forename: Antonio Riccardo
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Buonomo
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Minei
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Coppola
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foggia
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ferruzzi
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fratellanza
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Scarpato
authors.forename: Guglielmo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borgia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016824:Antigens, Human Platelet / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D016824:Antigens, Human Platelet
keywords: HCV; HPA3; Platelet; liver cirrhosis; polymorphism