Mean platelet volume and mortality in patients with alcohol use disorder

Several recent studies have pointed out the relationship of platelet size with increased mortality or adverse clinical course. Most studies show that increased mean platelet volume (MPV) may be associated with a deleterious outcome in different settings such as sepsis or neoplasia, whereas other researchers have found the opposite. In inflammatory conditions there is an altered secretion of several cytokines, some of them exerting a marked influence on platelet biogenesis and/or on platelet activation and aggregation. Alcohol use disorder is a chronic situation characterized by a protracted low-grade inflammation. In this study we analyze the relationship between proinflammatory cytokines and MPV and their relationships with mortality in patients with alcohol abuse. We determined serum levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 and routine laboratory variables among 184 patients with alcohol use disorder admitted to our hospital and followed-up for a median of 42 months. We found that MPV was inversely related to TNF-α (ρ=-0.34), and directly to IL-8 (ρ=0.32, p<0.001 in both cases) and to IL-6 (ρ=0.15; p = 0.046). Reduced MPV was related both with short-term (<6 months) and long-term mortality. Conclusion: These results suggest that inflammatory cytokines are strongly related to MPV. A low MPV is associated with a poor prognosis among patients with alcohol use disorder.