In this retrospective study, the researchers evaluated expression levels of HTR1B based on messenger RNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from patients with newly diagnosed MPN, in addition to conducting other analyses. The researchers had a goal of evaluating possible differences in expression of this gene across MPN subtypes.
There were 85 patients with newly diagnosed MPN included in the analysis, with a median age of 57 years (range, 23-80). Among these patients, 28 had polycythemia vera (PV), 25 had essential thrombocythemia (ET), and 32 had primary myelofibrosis (PMF). Additionally, comparisons of HTR1B expression included 6 healthy volunteers.
Across MPN subtypes and control individuals, the expression of HTR1B did not significantly differ (P =.3089). However, there was large variation observed in expression levels. The researchers further examined expression levels in the context of other patient factors, including based on whether patients had a thrombotic or non-thrombotic history.
A total of 32 patients were considered to have thrombotic MPNs and 53 patients were considered to have nonthrombotic MPN, with median ages of 57 years in each group. Levels of HTR1B expression were significantly different when analyzed across groups organized by thrombotic MPN, nonthrombotic MPN, or status as control individuals.
The level of HTR1B expression appeared highest among patients with thrombotic MPNs, while levels appeared to not be significantly different between patients with nonthrombotic MPNs and control individuals. Among patients with thrombotic MPNs, there was no statistically significant difference observed in the level of fold-change in HTR1B expression by MPN subtype.