Mean platelet volume (MPV) is associated with leukoaraiosis in the apparently healthy elderly

Abstract

Leukoaraiosis refers to diffuse white matter abnormalities on MR brain scans, which have been suggested to be associated with cerebral microangiopathy and geriatric syndromes such as cognitive impairment, depressive mood and gait disturbance. MPV is a simple indicator of platelet size and has been known to be a marker of platelet activity. MPV is now considered a link between inflammation and thrombosis in multiple cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders including hypertension, peripheral artery disease, and stroke. This cross-sectional study aims to evaluate the association between MPV and leukoaraiosis for 223 healthy elderly subjects (142 men, 81 women; mean age 66.0±5.2 years) in a health examination program including brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The overall prevalence rate of leukoaraiosis was 15.3%. The mean MPV was significantly higher in the leukoaraiosis group than control group: 8.4±0.8 and 8.1±1.0, respectively (p=0.036). A higher value of MPV was independently associated with an increased risk of leukoaraiosis. In the multivariate logistic analysis, the odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) for leukoaraiosis was 1.61 (1.02-2.53) with 1 fL of MPV increment after adjusting for confounding variables. In conclusion, MPV was found to be independently and positively associated with leukoaraiosis. This finding indicates that MPV values may be a useful additional measure in assessing the risk of leukoaraiosis in the clinical setting.