L. Oleksowicz et al., ALTERATIONS IN PLATELET-FUNCTION IN PATIENTS RECEIVING INTERLEUKIN-6 AS CYTOKINE THERAPY, Cancer investigation, 14(4), 1996, pp. 307-316
Platelet function in 12 cancer patients was studied sequentially over
97 hr of interleukin-6 (IL-6) daily bolus or continuous infusion (C.I.
) therapy. During this period, enhanced ex vivo agonist-induced platel
et maximum aggregation (MA) was paralleled by an increase in plasma le
vels of TXB(2) and PF4 as measured by RIA and ELISA, respectively. Pla
telet-rich plasma (PRP) specimens from bolus IL-6-treated patients dem
onstrated an increased incorporation of actin-binding protein and myos
in in the cytoskeletal core (triton insoluble residue) as shown by sod
ium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) in c
omparison to control specimens. Similarly, the integrin glycoprotein I
IIa (GPIIIa) was also observed to be retained into the cytoskeleton by
immunoblot. A significant decrease in hypotonic shock response (HSR)
was observed over 87 hr of treatment in IL-6 C.I. patients, whereas in
IL-6 bolus patients, a significant increase in HSR occurred immediate
ly after the bolus, which was followed by a significant decrease in HS
R after 23 hr. These results suggest that IL-6 alters platelet functio
n in vivo.