The effect of colchicine on thrombocytopenia in dengue fever

Objective: to study the effect of colchicine on platelet counts in patients with dengue fever and to compare the effects of colchicine with placebo. material & methods: a randomized-control trial was conducted during a dengue fever out break at services hospital,lahore. the total study duration was from november 3rd,2010 till november 24th 2010. 212 volunteers aged 14-70 participated according to inclusion criteria. the institutional review board approval was obtained. group a received oral soda bicarbonate every twelve hours for 72 hours; group b received oral colchicine,0.5 mg every twelve hours for 72 hours. platelet counts were checked on day 0,after 24 hours (day 1),and then for 3 consecutive days. end points were a platelet count rise above 150,000 or fall below 40,000 results: the rise in mean platelet counts from the baseline at day 0 and at days 1,2,3 and 4 were statistically insignificant between the placebo and colchicine groups: p value; 0.679,0.734,0.502 and 0.502 respectively. the endpoints of platelet rise above 150,000 and fall below 40,000 were statistically insignificant between the groups: p value; 0.182 and 0.478 respectively. conclusion: colchicine does not increase platelet counts in dengue fever.