Clinical applicability of reticulated platelets.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Reticulated platelets (RPs), immature platelets newly released from the bone marrow into the circulation, have a high content of ribonucleic acid and are larger and more active in thrombus formation.

OBJECTIVE:

This review compiles articles that evaluated RP in order to establish their clinical significance.

DISCUSSION:

RPs increase when platelet production rises and decrease when production falls. As such, the measurement of circulating RPs allows the assessment of thrombocytopenia, i.e., bone marrow production or peripheral destruction.

CONCLUSION:

RPs are a promising laboratory tool for evaluation of idiopathic thrombocytopenia (differentiating hypoproduction from accelerated platelet destruction), chemotherapy and after stem cell transplantation (predicting platelet recovery) and thrombocytosis (estimating platelet turnover). Additional randomized and well controlled clinical studies are required to clearly establish the significance of circulating RPs in other clinical conditions.

• Authors: Luci Maria SantAna Dusse, Letícia Gonçalves Freitas
• Journal: Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry (Clin Chim Acta) Vol. 439 Pg. 143-7 (Jan 15 2015) ISSN: 1873-3492 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 25451948 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Anemia, Sickle Cell (blood, diagnosis)
• Blood Platelets (cytology)
• Coronary Artery Disease (blood, diagnosis)
• Humans
• Kidney Diseases (blood, diagnosis)
• Sepsis (blood, diagnosis)
• Thrombocytopenia (blood, diagnosis)