Induction of thrombocytopenia by thrombopheresis in man: patterns of
recovery in normal subjects during ethanol ingestion and abstinence
LW Sullivan, WH Adams and YK Liu
Using the technique of thrombophoresis (TP), platelet and megakaryocyte
dynamics following acute thrombocytopenia were studied in two normal
subjects during periods of ethanol ingestion and abstinence.
Thrombocytopenia was induced over a period of 12 hr. A logarithmic decline
in platelet count during TP and the serial morphologic changes in
megakaryocytes during recovery from thrombocytopenia are described.
Although these parameters were not affected by ethanol ingestion, platelet
counts after TP did not return to normal until ethanol was discontinued.
51Cr-labeled platelet survival was normal in one subject studied, and no
evidence of increased platelet sequestration was found. It is concluded
that heavy ethanol ingestion induces, augments, or sustains
thrombocytopenia by impairing megakaryocytopoiesis in man. The mechanism by
which ethanol induces thrombocytopenia may be due, in part, to "ineffective
thrombopoiesis," impairment of the differentiation of precursor cells into
the megakaryocytic compartment, or a combination of these factors.
Volume 49,
Issue 2,
pp. 197-207,
02/01/1977
Copyright © 1977 by The American Society of Hematology
