MPN-334: Is There a Correlation Between Levels of Reactive Oxygen Species and the Platelet-to-Leukocyte Ratio in Essential Thrombocythemia?

• Published in: Clinical lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia myeloma and leukemia, 2020-09, Vol.20, p.S336-S337
• Main Authors: Gaman, Mihnea-Alexandru, Diaconu, Camelia Cristina, Gaman, Amelia Maria
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: essential thrombocythemia; inflammation; leukocytes; leukocytosis; oxidative stress; platelets; reactive oxygen species; thrombocytosis
• ISSN: 2152-2650; 2152-2669
• DOI: 10.1016/S2152-2650(20)31004-1

Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is a BCR-ABL1-negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by a sustained proliferation of megakaryocytes that results in an elevated number of circulating thrombocytes. The complete blood count in ET can also reflect the presence of leukocytosis. ET is also characterized by increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, our aim was to investigate whether ROS levels correlate with the platelet-to-leukocyte ratios in patients diagnosed with ET. ROS levels were measured by flow cytometry. The complete blood count was evaluated by standard methods. Spearman's Rho test was used to investigate the association between ROS levels and the platelet-to-leukocyte ratio. A total of 62 patients diagnosed with ET were enrolled in the study. All patients had thrombocytosis at diagnosis (n=62, 100.0%), whereas only 51.61% (n=32) also had leukocytosis. The mean platelet count value in the thrombocytosis + leukocytosis subgroup was 802250.00±253573.30 platelets/mmc versus 673166.67±253053.37 platelets/mmc in the thrombocytosis-only subgroup (P=0.0495). The mean leukocyte count value in the thrombocytosis + leukocytosis subgroup was 15159.06±5321.99 leukocytes/mmc versus 7402.33±1565.30 leukocytes/mmc in the thrombocytosis-only subgroup (P < 0.0001). The mean platelet to-leukocyte count value in the thrombocytosis + leukocytosis subgroup was 58.87±25.06 a.u. versus 93.08±33.08 a.u. in the thrombocytosis-only subgroup (P < 0.0001). The mean ROS value in the thrombocytosis + leukocytosis subgroup was 2.89±0.99 a.u. versus 2.80 ±0.94 a.u. in the thrombocytosis-only subgroup (P=0.7402). For the entire study group, we detected a statistically significant negative correlation between ROS levels and the platelet-to-leukocyte ratio: rs = -0.38539, p (2-tailed) = 0.00198. However, the correlation was only statistically significant in the thrombocytosis + leukocytosis subgroup [rs = -0.4802, P (2-tailed) = 0.00541] versus [rs = -0.26636, P (2-tailed) = 0.15481] in the thrombocytosis-only group. According to our findings, there is a negative correlation between ROS levels and platelet-to-leukocyte ratio in patients with ET whose complete blood count shows both thrombocytosis and leukocytosis. Further studies are needed to elucidate whether the platelet-to-leukocyte ratio can accurately reflect oxidative stress levels in patients with ET.