RP% Measurement by FCM as a Diagnostic Test for ITP

Overview

Immature platelets-also termed reticulated platelets (RP)-are platelets newly released into the circulation, and have been associated with a variety of pathological bleeding events including primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). They can be assessed by flow cytometry (FCM) after staining with thiazole orange (TO) at low concentration and expressed as a fraction of the total platelet count (RP%). The diagnosis of primary ITP is based on differential diagnosis and the measurement of RP% can serve as an alternative diagnostic test that are useful in daily practice. Our study aimed at distinguishing primary ITP from other thrombocytopenic disorders, especially aplstic (hypoplastic) or chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia by FCM. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay as well as agreement between RP% measurement and monoclonal antibody-specific immobilization of platelet antigen (MAIPA) were analyzed accordingly.

The investigators are undertaking a multi-center, prospective blind trial of 500 adults with thrombocytopenic disorders with a platelet count less than 60\*10\^9/L from 4 medical centers in China. In brief, 15 μl aliquots of anti-coagulated whole blood were incubated for 70 min with 5 μl of phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-CD42b monoclonal antibody (BD Pharmingen, Tokyo, Japan) and 1 ml of thiazole orange (Retic-COUNT; Becton-Dickinson, San Jose, CA, USA) diluted 10 times by phosphate-buffered saline. RP% was analyzed on a flow cytometer (FACScan, Becton-Dickinson) by measuring 10,000 events in the CD42b-positive fraction. Clinical information of all participants including gender, age, platelet count and definitive diagnosis were recorded by an exclusive investigator. RP% results were revealed at the end of recruitment and after all FCM measurements were completed. The agreement between clinical diagnosis and RP% results were analyzed to identify primary ITP.

Conditions