Changes in distribution of platelet membrane glycoproteins in patients with myeloproliferative disorders.

Glycoproteins have been discovered to be important to platelet function both in normal and pathological states. We have studied membrane glycoprotein patterns in 16 patients with various myeloproliferative disorders. There was an abnormal ratio of glycoprotein I:glycoprotein IV in patients with myeloproliferative disease compared with controls. There was no discernible correlation between glycoprotein pattern and aggregation response or platelet count, but patients with megathrombocytes had higher values for glycoprotein IV than those without megathrombocytes. These experiments suggest that patients with myeloproliferative disorders may have alterations in membrane glycoproteins that could alter platelet function.