LITERATURE UPDATE
Platelets and platelet counting: a selection of recent topics of investigation
As recent research illustrates, platelet function and platelet counting have wider application than simply their role in the study of haemostasis. Here, Pathology in Practice Science Editor Brian Nation compiles a selection of current interest in the medical literature.
The dynamic role of platelets in cancer progression and their therapeutic implications. Li S, Lu Z, Wu S et al. Nat Rev Cancer. 2024 Jan; 24 (1): 72–87. doi: 10.1038/ s41568-023-00639-6.
Systemic antiplatelet treatment represents a promising option to improve the therapeutic outcomes and therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy due to the critical contribution of platelets to tumour progression. However, until recently, targeting platelets as a cancer therapeutic has been hampered by the elevated risk of haemorrhagic and thrombocytopenic (low platelet count) complications owing to the lack of specificity for tumour- associated platelets.
Recent work has advanced understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the contribution of platelets to tumour progression and metastasis. This has led to the identification of the biological changes in platelets in the presence of tumours, the complex interactions between platelets and tumour cells during tumour progression, and the effects of platelets on antitumour therapeutic response. In this review, the authors present a detailed picture of the dynamic roles of platelets in tumour development and progression as well as their use in diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring response to therapy. They also provide their view on how to overcome challenges faced by the development of precise antiplatelet strategies for safe and efficient clinical cancer therapy.
Platelet indices and inflammatory bowel disease: a Mendelian randomization study. Li HY, Liu TM. Front Immunol. 2024
Platelets (blue) in a Giemsa-stained blood film.
Jul 9; 15: 1377915. doi: 10.3389/ fimmu.2024.1377915. eCollection 2024.
Platelets play a significant role in the innate and adaptive processes of immunity and inflammation. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an autoimmune disease that is widely understood to be caused by a combination of genetic predisposition, aberrant immune responses, etc.
This study examines the relationships between genetically determined platelet indices and IBD. The authors conducted a Mendelian randomisation (MR) study. Data associated with platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), plateletcrit (PCT) were used from the UK Biobank. The outcome data, including IBD, Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), were from the FinnGen database. The inverse
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variance-weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median methods were used for MR analyses.
The MR estimations from the IVW
approach show a significant connection between PLT and IBD. Similarly, PCT and IBD have a relationship following the IVW and MR-Egger approaches. While PLT and PCT have strong relationships with CD, according to the findings of all three approaches respectively. Nevertheless, PDW was the only relevant indicator of UC. The only significant result was that obtained by IVW.
These findings suggest that the fluctuation of platelet indicators is of great significance in the development of IBD. PLT and PCT have a close association with IBD and CD, respectively; PDW only has a connection with UC. Platelets play an important role in the progression of IBD (UC, CD).
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Dr Graham Beards CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons
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