Platelet Distribution Width Is Associated with P-Selectin Dependent Platelet Function: Results from the Moli-Family Cohort Study
Benedetta Izzi, Alessandro Gialluisi, Francesco Gianfagna, Sabatino Orlandi, Amalia De Curtis, Sara Magnacca, Simona Costanzo, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, Maria Benedetta Donati, Giovanni de Gaetano, Marc Hoylaerts, Chiara Cerletti, Licia Iacoviello, on behalf of the Moli-family Study Investigators
Abstract
(PDW) is still a poorly characterized marker of platelet function in (sub)clinical disease. We presently validated PDW as a marker of P-selectin dependent platelet activation in the Moli-family cohort. Platelet-bound P-selectin and platelet/leukocyte mixed aggregates were measured by flow cytometry in freshly collected venous blood, both before and after in vitro platelet activation, and coagulation time was assessed in unstimulated and LPS- or TNFα-stimulated whole blood. Closure Times (CT) were measured in a Platelet Function Analyzer (PFA)-100. Multivariable linear mixed effect regression models (with age, sex and platelet count as fixed and family structure as random effect) revealed PDW to be negatively associated with platelet P-selectin, platelet/leukocyte aggregates and von Willebrand factor (VWF), and positively with PFA-100 CT, and LPS- and TNF-α-stimulated coagulation times. With the exception of VWF, all relationships were sex-independent. In contrast, no association was found between mean platelet volume (MPV) and these variables. PDW seems a simple, useful marker of ex vivo and in vitro P-selectin dependent platelet activation. Investigations of larger cohorts will define the usefulness of PDW as a risk predictor of thrombo-inflammatory conditions where activated platelets play a contributing role.