Serum Thrombopoietin (c-MpI Ligand) Levels in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Shigetaka Shimodaira; Fumihiro Ishida; Naoaki Ichikawa; Tomoyuki Tahara; Takashi Kato; Hiroshi Kodaira; Toshiro Ito; Eiji Tanaka; Takeshi Sodeyama; Kendo Kiyosawa; Kiyoshi Kitano

doi:10.1055/s-0038-1650620

Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Table of Contents

Thromb Haemost 1996; 76(04): 545-548
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1650620

Original Article

Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart

Serum Thrombopoietin (c-MpI Ligand) Levels in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Shigetaka Shimodaira

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Fumihiro Ishida

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Naoaki Ichikawa

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Tomoyuki Tahara

¹The Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory, Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd., Maebashi, Japan

,

Takashi Kato

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Hiroshi Kodaira

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Toshiro Ito

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Eiji Tanaka

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Takeshi Sodeyama

¹The Pharmaceutical Research Laboratory, Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd., Maebashi, Japan

,

Kendo Kiyosawa

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

,

Kiyoshi Kitano

The Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

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Summary

To clarify the role of c-Mpl ligand (thrombopoietin: TPO) in liver cirrhosis (LC), we examined serum TPO levels (sTPO) in patients with LG (N = 44), chronic hepatitis (CH; N = 13) and healthy controls (N = 41) by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Although platelet counts of all LC patients (89 ± 59 × 10⁹/1; mean ± SD) were lower than those of controls and CH patients, sTPO levels in LC patients (1.23 ± 0.51 fmol/ml) were the same as those in controls (1.22 ± 0.37) and CH patients (1.18 ± 0.36). Platelet counts were significantly higher in splenectomized patients than in unsplenectomized patients, but the sTPO level did not differ between these two groups. In LC patients, the sTPO level was not correlated with the platelet count, but was correlated with prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and total bilirubin, indicating that production of TPO in the liver decreases slightly with the development of liver dysfunction. Our findings suggest that production of TPO is maintained in LC patients and their thrombocytopenia is not due to a defect in platelet production.

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References

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