Study populations
The study commenced after obtaining Institutional Ethical Committee approval (TJ-IRB20190308). The subjects were prospectively enrolled into this study, and all of them were healthy full-term (259 to 293 days (37 to 41 weeks) of gestation) neonates born at two hospitals from November 2018 to April 2019. Major inclusion/exclusion criteria are listed as follows. As listed in Chang et al.[6] for mothers, maternal age ranged from 20 to 40 years old and they had a normal health check-up without unfavourable past history during pregnancy, such as smoking, infectious diseases (hepatitis B/C, HIV, syphilis infections), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, malignancies and chronic diseases (diabetes mellitus, autoimmune disease, immunodeficiencies and thrombotic disorders); mothers did not receive aspirin during pregnancy; a vaginal delivery or caesarean section was event-free. Professional obstetricians were responsible for the data of this part. As listed in Chang et al.[6] and Wasiluk [15] for neonates, they fitted all clinical state criteria for full-term neonates; they were born with normal birth weight (2500-4000g) appropriate for gestational age and normal Apgar score (8-10 points at 1-5 minutes of life); physical examinations of the subjects were normal without any signs of infection or congenital anomalies at the time of sampling. And we excluded all neonates with an unfavourable perinatal history of premature rupture of membrane more than 24 hours, abnormal placenta, placenta abruption, chorioamnionitis or meconium stain, or with a medical history of hospitalizing in the neonatal intensive care unit. All subjects are Han ethnicity.
Blood sampling
After written informed consent was obtained from a parent or guardian for all subjects, we collected about 70μL capillary whole blood of the subjects during the first four days of life (12 to 84 hours old), by heel prick with the automated incision device into BD Microtainer tubes (spec, 0.5mL; Becton Dickinson and Company, USA) containing K2-ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as an anticoagulant. Samples were obtained by experienced technicians at the same time of blood sampling for the screening of congenital hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria or the routine serum bilirubin in morning hours (1-2 hours later after last food intake). The first-second drop of blood was discarded and each collection time was less than 1 minute. Samples were stored at ambient temperature for a maximum of four hours before the assay was performed.
Laboratory analyses
All capillary blood samples were analysed by SYSMEX XN-9000 haematology automatic analyser (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) in the pre-dilution mode (dilution ratio, complete blood: PK dilution = 1:6) to measure PLT (´ 109/L) and related parameters, including mean platelet volume (MPV, fL), plateletcrit level (PCT, %), platelet size distribution width (PDW, fL) and platelet large cell ratio (P-LCR, %). As listed in Kaito et al. [16] for the detection principle of platelet parameters, MPV was calculated by a formula (PCT / PLT ´ 104), and PDW and P-LCR were analysed from a histogram of platelet size distribution. Quality controls were run during every shift.
Statistical analysis
Data management and analyses were performed using SPSS 25.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA). The data distribution was evaluated using Q-Q plots, histograms and Shapiro-Wilk test. We built Box plot (with Tukey variation) to identify the outliers using GraphPad Prism 8.2.1 (GraphPad software, La Jolla, CA, USA). An outlier was defined as a value < Q1 – 1.5 × IQR (Q1: 25th percentiles, IQR: interquartile range), or > Q3 + 1.5 × IQR (Q3: 75th percentiles). Quantitative data were expressed as either mean (± standard deviation, SD) for normally distributed data or median (IQR) for data not normally distributed. RIs for platelet parameters were defined by an interval of 2.5th – 97.5th percentiles. We performed Student’s t-test or Mann-Whitney U test as appropriate in order to evaluate influence of sex on platelet parameters. Pearson’s or Spearman’s correlation coefficients was performed as appropriate to evaluate correlations between platelet parameters and correlation factors. Two-tailed P values of less than 0.05 were set as statistical significance.