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Platelet size and count are associated with cardiac ischemia and ischemic stroke, two of the most common forms of acute cardiovascular disease. While platelet count (PC) is a common clinical measure, assessment of platelet size using mean platelet volume (MPV), the average size of platelets in a blood sample, and platelet distribution width (PDW), the variance of the platelet volume curve, are less frequently used. The overall objective of my research is to characterize these three quantitative platelet measures in a population of healthy individuals and evaluate the genetic and environmental determinants of these traits. Clinical and anthropometric predictors were examined in addition to a genome-wide association study (GWAS) conducted for each of these three quantitative platelet traits. 23 SNPs were associated at a suggestive level of significance (p1x10-5) and some associated loci were near plausible candidate genes. MPV, PC, and PDW are heritable traits and improved understanding of their genetic and environmental underpinnings could provide novel insight into platelet biology.
About the author
Laura Bozzi received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Connecticut in 2012. She completed her M.S. in Epidemiology and Human Genetics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in the Spring of 2014. She is currently a PhD student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in the Pharmaceutical Health Services Research program.
