PDGF-A, PDGF-B, TGFβ, and bFGF mRNA levels in patients with essential thrombocythemia treated with anagrelide

Abstract

Plasmatic levels of PDGF-AB, TGFβ1, and bFGF are increased in patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) while intraplatelet levels are low for PDGF, normal for TGFβ, and elevated for bFGF. To evaluate the contribution of gene expression to the dysregulated cytokine levels, we studied platelet PDGF-A, PDGF-B, TGFβ1, and bFGF mRNA in ET patients before and during anagrelide treatment. We found decreased PDGF-A and PDGF-B, increased TGFβ1, and normal bFGF mRNA levels. During treatment, mRNA levels remained decreased for PDGF-A, were increased for PDGF-B and normal for TGFβ1. In untreated patients, protein expression of PDGF paralleled its mRNA levels while different patterns of RNA and protein were found for TGFβ1 and bFGF.