Abstract Number: OC 36.2
Meeting: ISTH 2021 Congress
Theme: Arterial Thromboembolism » Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Background: A higher body mass index (BMI) is a recognised risk factor for thrombotic disorders. Platelets are essential for haemostasis but also contribute to thrombosis when activated pathologically.
Aims: We aimed to identify whether higher BMI may lead to changes in platelet characteristics, thereby contributing to an increased thrombotic risk.
Methods: The effect of BMI on a range of platelet traits was measured in 33,388 healthy adults from the INTERVAL study of UK blood donors and used Mendelian randomization (MR) to estimate a causal effect. Linear regression was used for observational analyses between BMI and platelet characteristics. A genetic risk score for BMI was used to estimate causal effects in the MR.
Results: Observationally, higher BMI was positively associated with plateletcrit (PCT, 0.12 SD higher per SD BMI, 95% CI 0.11-0.13, P=9.2×10-88), platelet count (PLT), immature platelet count (IPC, 0.06 SD higher per SD BMI, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.08, P=4.8×10-22) and side fluorescence (SFL, a measure of mRNA content used to derive IPC). MR provided causal estimates for the association between BMI and both SFL (0.08 SD higher per SD BMI, 95% CI 0.03-0.14, P = 0.003) and IPC (0.06 SD higher per SD BMI, 95% CI 0.006-0.12, P=0.03), but there was no strong evidence for a causal effect of BMI on PCT or PLT. Post-hoc analysis in The COagulation and Platelet laboratory Testing in Cardiac Surgery (COPTIC) study provided evidence for a positive association between IPC and whole blood aggregation.
Conclusions: Results indicate that higher BMI may lead to a greater number of immature platelets, and that immature platelets are hyperactive, which might contribute to obesity-related thrombosis.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Goudswaard L, Corbin L, Burley K, Akbari P, Butterworth A, Soranzo N, Mumford A, Timpson N, Hers I. Estimating the Causal Association between Body Mass Index and Platelet Properties: Evidence for a Positive Association with Immature Platelet Count [abstract]. Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2021; 5 (Suppl 2). https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/estimating-the-causal-association-between-body-mass-index-and-platelet-properties-evidence-for-a-positive-association-with-immature-platelet-count/. Accessed March 22, 2024.« Back to ISTH 2021 Congress
ISTH Congress Abstracts - https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/estimating-the-causal-association-between-body-mass-index-and-platelet-properties-evidence-for-a-positive-association-with-immature-platelet-count/