Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Platelet Indices: An Indicator of Disease Severity

Abstract

Background: Researchers recently found that megakaryocytes and hematopoietic progenitor cells can be found in the lungs. Therefore, during chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung damage may also affect platelet function and number. Objectives: Our study investigated the association between platelet indices and disease severity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Imam Reza (AS) and Ghaem (AS) hospitals in Mashhad in 2021. The study was conducted on patients with stable COPD at the lung clinics of these centers and non-COPD outpatients referred to the internal clinic. In both groups, the demographic and clinical information of the patients was recorded, followed by the patients' platelet indices. The platelet indices of COPD patients were compared with non-COPD patients in addition to an intergroup analysis based on disease severity defined by the global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD) classification. Results: There were 100 patients in the study, among whom 50 (50%) had COPD. Neither of the groups differed significantly in age (P = 0.85) or gender (P = 0.68). Compared to the case group, the mean platelet volume (MPV) of non-COPD subjects was significantly higher (P = 0.01), but other platelet indices were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Comparing platelet indices between different stages of COPD demonstrated that the mean platelet volume was significantly different (P = 0.04), while others were not (P > 0.05). Conclusions: According to this study, COPD patients have a lower MPV value than non-COPD individuals.