Assessment of Soluble Endothelial Protein C Receptor and Thrombomodulin Levels in Newly Diagnosed Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Objective: Thrombotic complications are considered as significant causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). The aim of this prospective study was to assess the soluble EPCR (sEPCR) and thrombomodulin (TM) levels of MPN patients at diagnosis and to evaluate their association with disease characteristics. Material and Methods: A total of 41 patients [male/female: 22/19; age: 58(31-87) years] who were diagnosed as MPN and 20 healthy volunteers were included in this study. Serum sEPCR, TM, protein C, protein S, D-dimer and fibrinogen levels were measured at the time of diagnosis. Results: Serum SEPCR and TM levels were evaluated at diagnosis in a total of 41 MPN patients and 20 healthy controls. Median sEPCR and TM levels were not different between males and females. Median sEPCR and TM levels were found to be similar in the patient and control groups. JAK2V617F positivity did not represent a significant association with sEPCR and TM levels. Protein C, protein S, D-dimer ve fibrinogen levels were not statistically different between the patient and control groups. Conclusion: The small sample size may be an explanation for the similar levels of sEPCR and TM in MPN patients and control group. Despite the efforts in order to understand the underlying mechanism of the hypercoagulable state in MPN, current data is inadequate to highlight the hidden steps of this complicated network. Thus, further studies are warranted to overcome this obstacle.