Could mean platelet volume serve as a marker of disease activity in Crohn’s disease?
Aim: To investigate the capacity of mean platelet volume (MPV) in detecting CD disease activity and in differentiating CD patients from healthy controls. Methods : MPV values were measured in 30 CD patients and 30 healthy individuals matched for age and gender. Based on the result of Crohn’s Disease Activity Index, CD patients were subdivided into two subgroups: active and inactive phase of disease. MPV was measured by standard methods for all study participants. Results: A significant decrease in MPV was noted in CD patients compared to healthy controls (p=0.002). When active CD patients were compared with inactive CD patients, a significant decrease in MPV was also found (p=0.031). The overall accuracy of MPV in discriminating CD patients from healthy controls as well as active from inactive CD patients was 66% (cut-off level of 8.83 fL). Significant negative correlation between MPV and platelet count (PLT) (rho= -0.570; p=0.01) and significant positive correlation between MPV and platelet distribution width (PDW) (rho= 0.615; p=0.01) was observed in CD patients. Conclusion: Based on our results that have shown significant difference in MPV that was related to Crohn’s disease activity, we consider that MPV could be added to other serological markers of CD, especially in differentiating the active from the inactive phase of disease. Key words: mean platelet volume, Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease