Clinical and Experimental Studies on the Characteristics of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura Part 1. The Influence of the Serum of the Patient with Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura on the Megakaryocyte Function of Normal Persons

With the purpose to pursue the platelet reducing factor in the serum of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, the author performed the bone-marrow tissue culture of the normal persons and the patients with this disease by the simple method of bone-marrow tissue culture; and also observed number of megakaryocytes, their functions (motility and separation of platelets) in the tissue growth area, relative tissue growthrate, and the wandering velocity of neutrophils by means of the bone-marrow tissue culture of normal persons in the serum of patient with this disease. 1. In the bone-marrow tissue culture of this disease number of megakaryocytes appearing in the tissue growth area was normal in one case, and greater than the normal in two cases; but the megakaryocyte funcion was on the whole lowered. The relative growth rate and the wandering velocity of neutrophils showed no significant differences from those of the control. 2. In the case of the bone-marrow tissue culture of normal persons in the serum of this disease there was no significant difference in the number of megakryocytes appearing in the growth area from that of the control, but the megakaryocyte function was markedly diminished and also a marked degeneration was recognized. However, the relative growth rate and the wandering velocity of neutrophils showed no significant differences from those of the control. From these findings it is clear that there exists some factor in the serum of the patient with thrombocytopenic purpura, which acts directly on megakarycoytes so as to inhibit the thrombocyte production