A low mean platelet volume indicates active inflammatory bowel disease; a sensitive model in resource poor settings

Aim: To examine whether the mean platelet volume (MPV) can be used as an indicator of active inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).Methods and Materials: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on hundred patients with IBD (61 ulcerative colitis (UC), 29 Crohn’s disease (CD)) of both genders (female: male; 67:33). Disease activity was assessed with clinical activity indices. Samples were taken for full blood count (FBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) from all participants. The correlation between the MPV and clinical disease activity index scores were examined. The cutoff point of MPV to differentiate active disease was obtained from ROC curve analysis.Results: MPV was negatively correlated with disease activity index scores of UC and CD. Simple clinical colitis activity index (SCCAI) and Crohn’s disease activity index (CDAI), respectively (MPV vs SCCAI; r= (-0.590), P< 0.001 and MPV vs CDAI; r= (-0.674), P<0.001). MPV predicted IBD activity best as compared to ESR, CRP, white cell count (WBC), platelet count (PLT) and absolute neutro-phil count (ANC). In this study MPV was inversely correlated with all tested covariates in the total IBD group and two subgroups (UC and CD) except the platelet count in CD group.Conclusion: MPV is a low-cost, sensitive indicator to assess IBD activity.