Platelet IgG antibodies are significantly increased in chronic liver disease

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of IgG antiplatelet (anti-P) IgG antibodies in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) of diverse but well defined etiology. METHODS One-hundred fifty-six consecutive patients with CLD (65 with chronic hepatitis B, 57 with chronic hepatitis C, 23 with alcoholic liver disease and 11 with primary biliary cirrhosis), and 240 healthy blood donors were investigated for the presence of anti-P antibodies. RESULTS Anti-P antibodies were present in 36.5% (57/156) of patients with CLD, and 2.9% (7/240) of controls (P=0.0001). In detail, anti-P antibodies were detected in 35.4% (23/65) of patients with chronic hepatitis B, 26.3% (15/57) of patients with chronic hepatitis C, 47.8% (11/23) of patients with alcoholic liver disease and 72.7% (8/11) of those with primary biliary cirrhosis. The study also demonstrated the significantly higher prevalence of anti-P antibodies in patients with cirrhosis (53.0%) than in non cirrhotic patients (26.4%, P=0.0018). The association of anti-P antibodies with thrombocytopenia was inconsistent. CONCLUSIONS This study showed a high prevalence of anti-P IgG antibodies in patients with CLD compared to healthy controls.