Is Decreased Mean Platelet Volume in Allergic Airway Diseases Associated With Extent of the Inflammation Area?

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between mean platelet volume (MPV) level and the extent of airway inflammation in allergic airway diseases and in subgroups by comparison of inflammatory markers.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective examination was made of 250 patients with allergic airway disease in the symptomatic phase, who had been newly diagnosed or who had abandoned treatment for at least 6 months. These patients were separated into 3 groups of asthma without allergic rhinitis (A - AR, n = 107), asthma with allergic rhinitis (A + AR, n = 83) and allergic rhinitis without asthma (AR - A, n = 60).

Results: The MPV values of the study groups were found to be significantly lower than those of the control group (P < 0.001). MPV was determined to be negatively correlated with white blood cells, neutrophil count, platelet count and immunoglobulin E level in the study groups. The lowest MPV value was determined in the A + AR group (8.035 ± 1.05fL), which had the most extensive airway involvement, and the highest MPV value was determined in the AR - A group (8.109 ± 1.11fL) with the least airway involvement. MPV level sensitivity and the specificity of the best cutoff level were 74.5% and 40.8%, respectively. The cutoff level of 8.18fL for MPV level was found to have moderate sensitivity and low specificity for predicting pulmonary embolism.

Conclusions: The results of this study showed that MPV is lower in allergic airway diseases and a negative correlation was determined between MPV and inflammation markers but no statistically significant difference was determined between MPV and extent of the inflammation area.