Clinical significance of blood platelets and mean platelet volume in patients with ulcerative colitis

OBJECTIVES: This retrospective study aimed to investigate and analyze the clinical significance of blood platelets (PLTs) and mean platelet volume (MPV) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS: A total of 132 patients with UC and 208 healthy subjects were enrolled. PLTs, MPV, platelet-large cell rate (P-LCR), C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer were analyzed. Correlations were calculated between disease activity/extent of disease and MPV, PLT, and CRP levels in patients with UC. RESULTS: PLT levels were significantly higher while MPV and P-LCR were lower in patients with UC compared with controls. Disease activity was positive correlated with CRP (r = 0.564) and PLT (r = 0.307) but negatively correlated with MPV (r = −0.351). Extent of disease was positively correlated with CRP (r = 0.312) but showed no correlation with PLTs and MPV. FIB and D-dimer were higher in patients with UC, but the difference in FIB levels was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: PLTs and MPV are potential biomarkers for UC disease activity. These data may help clinicians to attain a more comprehensive judgment of the general condition of patients with UC.