scholarly journals Drug-induced thrombocytopenia: pathogenesis, evaluation, and management

Hematology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. George ◽  
Richard H. Aster

AbstractAlthough drugs are a common cause of acute immune-mediated thrombocytopenia in adults, the drug etiology is often initially unrecognized. Most cases of drug-induced thrombocytopenia (DITP) are caused by drug-dependent antibodies that are specific for the drug structure and bind tightly to platelets by their Fab regions but only in the presence of the drug. A comprehensive database of 1301 published reports describing 317 drugs, available at www.ouhsc.edu/platelets, provides information on the level of evidence for a causal relation to thrombocytopenia. Typically, DITP occurs 1 to 2 weeks after beginning a new drug or suddenly after a single dose when a drug has previously been taken intermittently. However, severe thrombocytopenia can occur immediately after the first administration of antithrombotic agents that block fibrinogen binding to platelet GP IIb-IIIa, such as abciximab, tirofiban, and eptifibatide. Recovery from DITP usually begins within 1 to 2 days of stopping the drug and is typically complete within a week. Drug-dependent antibodies can persist for many years; therefore, it is important that the drug etiology be confirmed and the drug be avoided thereafter.

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric L. Tam ◽  
Padma L. Draksharam ◽  
Jennifer A. Park ◽  
Gurinder S. Sidhu

We describe a case of a 63-year-old woman with advanced colon cancer and liver metastases who was treated with fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) and cetuximab chemotherapy. She tolerated 13 cycles of chemotherapy without any significant hematological side effects, but after the 14th cycle, she developed melena and was admitted for severe thrombocytopenia. After supportive care, the platelet counts rapidly improved to 76,000/μL. Upon initiation of FOLFIRI and cetuximab chemotherapy, she again developed rectal bleeding and severe thrombocytopenia with a platelet count of 6000/μL. Lab testing was positive for oxaliplatin and irinotecan drug-dependent platelet antibodies on flow cytometry assay. Drug-induced thrombocytopenia (DITP) is associated with several classes of drugs with several proposed underlying mechanisms. Prospective studies are needed to further address different mechanisms of drug-induced thrombocytopenia.


1993 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfonso Candido ◽  
Stefano Bussa ◽  
Raffaele Tartaglione ◽  
Rosalba Mancini ◽  
Carlo Rumi ◽  
...  

Drug-induced immunologic thrombocytopenia, a fairly common disorder, is characterized by drug-dependent antiplatelet antibodies that destroy circulating platelets in the presence of the provoking drug or its metabolites. The development of reliable methods for the detection of platelet-bound immunoglobulins causing in vivo platelet destruction, such as the use of monoclonal antibodies tagged with fluorescein and flow cytofluorimetric analysis, has ushered in a new era to differentiate between immune and non-immune thrombocytopenias. A severe thrombocytopenia developed in an elderly female patient treated with tamoxifen, a non-steroidal antiestrogen drug, after surgery for breast cancer. A tamoxifen-dependent platelet antibody was detected in the patient's serum and linked on the platelet membranes. This antibody reacted only in the presence of the offending drug and showed platelet specificity. Withdrawal of drug restored platelet count to normal levels.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 880-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Pan ◽  
Eric Hsieh ◽  
Caroline Piatek

Thrombocytopenia is a frequent complication of cancer may be due to a variety of causes including malignancy itself, acute disease processes, or cancer therapy. Systemic cancer therapy is the most common cause of thrombocytopenia in cancer patients observed nearly two-thirds of patients with solid tumors. Thrombocytopenia with traditional chemotherapy agents is most frequently the result of megakaryocyte cytotoxicity. Oxaliplatin is a platinum derivative commonly used in gastrointestinal malignancies and is associated with drug-induced immune thrombocytopenia.


Hematology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 (1) ◽  
pp. 225-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas L. Ortel

Abstract Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an immune-mediated disorder caused by the development of antibodies to platelet factor 4 (PF4) and heparin. The thrombocytopenia is typically moderate, with a median platelet count nadir of ~50 to 60 × 109 platelets/L. Severe thrombocytopenia has been described in patients with HIT, and in these patients antibody levels are high and severe clinical outcomes have been reported (eg, disseminated intravascular coagulation with microvascular thrombosis). The timing of the thrombocytopenia in relation to the initiation of heparin therapy is critically important, with the platelet count beginning to drop within 5 to 10 days of starting heparin. A more rapid drop in the platelet count can occur in patients who have been recently exposed to heparin (within the preceding 3 months), due to preformed anti-heparin/PF4 antibodies. A delayed form of HIT has also been described that develops within days or weeks after the heparin has been discontinued. In contrast to other drug-induced thrombocytopenias, HIT is characterized by an increased risk for thromboembolic complications, primarily venous thromboembolism. Heparin and all heparin-containing products should be discontinued and an alternative, non-heparin anticoagulant initiated. Alternative agents that have been used effectively in patients with HIT include lepirudin, argatroban, bivalirudin, and danaparoid, although the last agent is not available in North America. Fondaparinux has been used in a small number of patients with HIT and generally appears to be safe. Warfarin therapy should not be initiated until the platelet count has recovered and the patient is systemically anticoagulated, and vitamin K should be administered to patients receiving warfarin at the time of diagnosis of HIT.


Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (7) ◽  
pp. 2359-2365 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Gentilini ◽  
B.R. Curtis ◽  
R.H. Aster

Although thrombocytopenia associated with the use of histamine H2 receptor (H2R) antagonists has been described, a drug-dependent, platelet-reactive antibody has not previously been identified in such cases. We studied serum from a patient who developed acute, severe thrombocytopenia after exposure to the H2 receptor antagonist, ranitidine, and identified an antibody that reacted with normal platelets in the presence of this drug at pharmacologic concentrations. In flow cytometric and immunoprecipitation studies, the antibody was shown to be specific for the glycoprotein Ib/IX complex (GPIb/IX). From the pattern of monoclonal antibody (MoAb) inhibition and the reactions of antibody with Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with GPIX and GPIbβ, we found that the patient's antibody is specific for an epitope on GPIX close to, or identical with a site recognized by the MoAb SZ1 that is a common target for antibodies induced by quinine and quinidine, drugs structurally unrelated to ranitidine. These findings provide evidence that immune thrombocytopenia can be caused by sensitivity to an H2 R antagonist and suggest that the SZ1 binding site on GPIX may be a common target for drug-induced antibodies. Further studies of the epitope for which SZ1 is specific may provide clues to the mechanism(s) by which drugs promote tight binding of antibody to a membrane glycoprotein and cause platelet destruction in patients with drug sensitivity.


Blood ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 92 (7) ◽  
pp. 2359-2365 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Gentilini ◽  
B.R. Curtis ◽  
R.H. Aster

Abstract Although thrombocytopenia associated with the use of histamine H2 receptor (H2R) antagonists has been described, a drug-dependent, platelet-reactive antibody has not previously been identified in such cases. We studied serum from a patient who developed acute, severe thrombocytopenia after exposure to the H2 receptor antagonist, ranitidine, and identified an antibody that reacted with normal platelets in the presence of this drug at pharmacologic concentrations. In flow cytometric and immunoprecipitation studies, the antibody was shown to be specific for the glycoprotein Ib/IX complex (GPIb/IX). From the pattern of monoclonal antibody (MoAb) inhibition and the reactions of antibody with Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with GPIX and GPIbβ, we found that the patient's antibody is specific for an epitope on GPIX close to, or identical with a site recognized by the MoAb SZ1 that is a common target for antibodies induced by quinine and quinidine, drugs structurally unrelated to ranitidine. These findings provide evidence that immune thrombocytopenia can be caused by sensitivity to an H2 R antagonist and suggest that the SZ1 binding site on GPIX may be a common target for drug-induced antibodies. Further studies of the epitope for which SZ1 is specific may provide clues to the mechanism(s) by which drugs promote tight binding of antibody to a membrane glycoprotein and cause platelet destruction in patients with drug sensitivity.


Blood ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 922-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W. Bougie ◽  
Peter R. Wilker ◽  
Richard H. Aster

AbstractImmune thrombocytopenia induced by quinine and many other drugs is caused by antibodies that bind to platelet membrane glycoproteins (GPs) only when the sensitizing drug is present in soluble form. In this disorder, drug promotes antibody binding to its target without linking covalently to either of the reacting macro-molecules by a mechanism that has not yet been defined. How drug provides the stimulus for production of such antibodies is also unknown. We studied 7 patients who experienced severe thrombocytopenia after ingestion of quinine. As expected, drug-dependent, platelet-reactive antibodies specific for GPIIb/IIIa or GPIb/IX were identified in each case. Unexpectedly, each of 6 patients with GPIIb/IIIa-specific antibodies was found to have a second antibody specific for drug alone that was not platelet reactive. Despite recognizing different targets, the 2 types of antibody were identical in requiring quinine or desmethoxy-quinine (cinchonidine) for reactivity and in failing to react with other structural analogues of quinine. On the basis of these findings and previous observations, a model is proposed to explain drug-dependent binding of antibodies to cellular targets. In addition to having implications for pathogenesis, drug-specific antibodies may provide a surrogate measure of drug sensitivity in patients with drug-induced immune cytopenia.


Blood ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 99 (10) ◽  
pp. 3540-3546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T. Billheimer ◽  
Ira B. Dicker ◽  
Richard Wynn ◽  
Jodi D. Bradley ◽  
Debra A. Cromley ◽  
...  

Glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa antagonists are effective therapeutic agents, but elicit thrombocytopenia with a frequency that approaches 2%. Here, we provide evidence that thrombocytopenia in humans treated with the GP IIb/IIIa antagonist roxifiban is immune mediated. Two patients underwent conversion to a highly positive drug-dependent antibody (DDAB) status temporally associated with thrombocytopenia. Despite the continued presence of DDABs, the fall in platelet count was reversed by discontinuation of drug treatment, pointing to the exquisite drug dependency of the immune response. DDABs appear to bind to neoepitopes in GP IIb/IIIa elicited on antagonist binding. This information was used to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for DDAB using solid-phase GP IIb/IIIa. A high level of specificity is indicated by the observation that DDAB binding is dependent on the chemical structure of the GP IIb/IIIa antagonist and that only 2% to 5% of human blood donors and 5% of chimpanzees present with pre-existing DDABs. Furthermore, none of 108 nonthrombocytopenic patients from the phase II roxifiban study showed an increase in antibody titer. Absorption of thrombocytopenia plasma with platelets reduced the DDAB ELISA signal, indicating that the test detects physiologically relevant antibodies. Screening patients for pre-existing or increasing DDAB titer during treatment with GP IIb/IIIa antagonists may reduce the incidence of drug-induced thrombocytopenia.


Blood ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 110 (11) ◽  
pp. 2087-2087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoning Li ◽  
Richard H. Aster ◽  
Brian R. Curtis ◽  
Daniel W. Bougie ◽  
Sara K. Vesely ◽  
...  

Abstract Acute thrombocytopenia is one of the most common serious adverse reactions to drugs and can be caused by many drugs. For evaluation of unexpected thrombocytopenia, it is important to know the relative risks of thrombocytopenia among the patient’s current medications. However identification of drugs that can cause thrombocytopenia is not standardized; multiple distinct methods are used: detection of drug-dependent antibodies, analysis of published case reports to establish the level of evidence for the drug as a cause of thrombocytopenia (http://moon.ouhsc.edu/jgeorge), and reporting to MedWatch, the FDA AERS. We have previously compared drugs that had “definite” or “probable” evidence for causing thrombocytopenia in published reports to drugs that had a significant association with thrombocytopenia determined by data mining of the FDA AERS database, defined as a signal of disproportionate reporting (SDR) that exceeded a standard predetermined value (Li, et al. Blood2006;108:140a). We have now expanded our analysis to include flow cytometry detection of DDab in the serum of patients with suspected drug-induced thrombocytopenia. 401 drugs have been suspected as a cause of thrombocytopenia by serum samples submitted for identification of DDab and in case reports. All 401 drugs, including drugs that were and were not shown to be associated with DDab and also drugs that did or did not have “definite” or “probable” evidence for causing thrombocytopenia in case reports, were searched for in the AERS database using a data mining algorithm to identify a significant association with thrombocytopenia. In this analysis, drugs that were not reported in a publication, were not tested for DDab, or were not found in the AERS database were coded as not significant for that method. 204 (51%) of the 401 drugs were significantly associated with thrombocytopenia by 1 or more methods; DDab identified 12% (47), case reports 19% (75), and data mining 36% (143). However, there was limited agreement among these 3 methods for identifying a significant association with thrombocytopenia. Significant by all 3 methods 13 drugs (3%) Significant by any 2 methods 35 drugs (9%) Significant only by detection of DDab 21 drugs (5%) Significant only by case reports 39 drugs (10%) Significant only by data mining 96 drugs (24%) Not significant by any of the 3 methods 197 drugs (49%) None of the 3 methods are sufficient to identify all drugs capable of causing thrombocytopenia. Data mining is a screening tool of existing data and therefore may be more sensitive but less specific than demonstration of DDab and reported clinical evidence. Reports to MedWatch are simple to submit but the reliability is uncertain. Critical assessment of clinical evidence from published case reports may be more specific for identifying drugs that can cause thrombocytopenia, but substantial effort is required to publish a case report. Detection of DDab specifically identifies drugs that can cause thrombocytopenia and also provides understanding of the biologic mechanisms, but tests for DDab are not standardized in routine clinical laboratories. Conclusions. Use of multiple approaches is important to enhance post-marketing surveillance and to provide a comprehensive understanding of drug-induced thrombocytopenia.


Blood ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 118 (21) ◽  
pp. 2216-2216
Author(s):  
Cassandra C Deford ◽  
Jessica A Reese ◽  
Zayd Al-Nouri ◽  
Deirdra Terrell ◽  
Sara K. Vesely ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 2216 Introduction: Quinine is the most common cause of drug-induced TTP-HUS in the Oklahoma Registry, 1989–2010. In 52 of all 415 clinically diagnosed patients the cause of TTP-HUS was attributed to a drug; in 25 of these 52 patients, quinine was the suspected drug; in the other 27 patients, chemotherapy agents were the suspected cause in 17, cyclosporine in 3, and 6 different drugs in the other 7 patients. Our goal was to describe the presenting clinical features and long term outcomes of patients with quinine-induced TTP-HUS. Methods: We developed an algorithm to define the causal relation between a drug and the occurrence of TTP-HUS that included patient history (precise time interval between drug exposure and onset of symptoms, occurrence of systemic symptoms with previous exposure to the drug) and documentation of drug-dependent antibodies. Presenting clinical features of patients with quinine induced TTP-HUS were compared to patients with TTP and severe ADAMTS13 deficiency. ADAMTS13 activity has been measured in 299 of 321 (93%) patients, 1995–2010. 68 of 299 (23%) had severe ADAMTS13 deficiency. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was calculated by the Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation (Ann Int Med 2009;150:604). Results: Using this algorithm, 19 of 25 quinine patients had a definite causal relation of quinine to TTP-HUS; among the other 6 quinine patients the causal relation was probable in 1, possible in 2, and unlikely in 3. Among the 27 patients with other suspected drugs, only 1 (gemcitabine) had a definite and 1 (alendronate) had a probable causal relation. In the other 25 patients the causal relationship between the drug and TTP-HUS was only possible or unlikely. The characteristic presenting symptoms of the 19 patients with a definite quinine cause were the sudden onset of fever and chills, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, and oliguria. Nine of the 19 patients had had previous systemic symptoms with previous quinine exposure, including two patients with previous episodes of TTP-HUS for which the quinine cause had not been recognized. Sixteen of the 19 patients had ADAMTS13 activity measurements (median, 63%; range 25–100%); their presenting clinical features were significantly different from the 68 patients who had TTP associated with severe ADAMTS13 deficiency, except the frequency of female gender. Of the 19 patients with a definite quinine cause of TTP-HUS, 1 died and 3 recovered with end-stage renal disease, requiring permanent dialysis and kidney transplantation in two patients. The remaining 15 patients have been followed for a median of 4.8 years (range, 1.2 – 13.8 years). Four have CKD with severely decreased glomerular filtration rate [GFR] (15–29 ml/min/1.73 m2), 7 have CKD with moderately decreased GFR (30–59 ml/min/1.73 m2), and 4 have normal GFR (≥60 ml/min/1.73 m2). Conclusion: Quinine is a common cause of drug-induced TTP-HUS with characteristic clinical features. It is a severe systemic disorder that can cause death and commonly causes CKD. The quinine cause may not be recognized because quinine exposure, from occasional tablets for leg cramps or from tonic water, may be overlooked. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


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