title: Age and gender effects on 15 platelet phenotypes in a Spanish population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several studies have analysed the platelet parameters in human blood, nevertheless there are no extensive analyses on the less common platelet phenotypes. The main objective of our study is to evaluate the age and gender effects on 15 platelet phenotypes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 804 individuals, ranging in age from 2 to 93 years, included in the Genetic Analysis of Idiopathic Thrombophilia 2 (GAIT 2) Project. The 15 platelet phenotypes analysed were the platelets counts, platelet volumes, plateletcrits, immature platelet fraction (IPF) and platelet function assay (PFA). A regression-based method was used to evaluate the age and gender effects on these phenotypes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results were consistent with the previously reported results regarding platelet counts and plateletcrit (PCT). They showed a decrease with increasing age. The mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW) and platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR) increased with age, but did not present any gender effect. All the IPF phenotypes increased with age, whereas the PFA phenotypes did not show any relation to age or gender.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To sum up, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of the age and gender effects on the platelet phenotypes in a family-base sample. Our results suggest more reasonable age stratification into two distinct groups: childhood, ranging from 2 to 12 years, and the mature group, from 13 to 93 years. Moreover, the PFA phenotypes were maintained constant while the platelet counts, the MPV and IPF levels vary with age.
authors.affiliation: Unitat d'Hemostàsia i Trombosi, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain. Electronic address: MVazquezS@santpau.cat.
authors.forename: Miquel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vázquez-Santiago
authors.affiliation: Unit of Genomics of Complex Diseases, Sant Pau Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB-Sant Pau), Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain. Electronic address: AZiyatdinov@santpau.cat.
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ziyatdinov
authors.affiliation: Unitat d'Hemostàsia i Trombosi, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain; Department of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain. Electronic address: NPujol@santpau.cat.
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pujol-Moix
authors.affiliation: Unit of Genomics of Complex Diseases, Sant Pau Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB-Sant Pau), Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain. Electronic address: helena.brunel@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brunel
authors.affiliation: Unitat d'Hemostàsia i Trombosi, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain. Electronic address: ambnesi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morera
authors.affiliation: Unit of Genomics of Complex Diseases, Sant Pau Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB-Sant Pau), Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain. Electronic address: JSoria@santpau.cat.
authors.forename: José Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Soria
authors.affiliation: Unitat d'Hemostàsia i Trombosi, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167, Barcelona 08025, Spain. Electronic address: JSouto@santpau.cat.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Souto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000097:blood*; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063847:Mean Platelet Volume; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D019851:Thrombophilia / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Age; Gender; Immature platelet fraction (IPF); Platelet counts; Platelet function assay (PFA); Platelet indices