Liang W, Wei F, Yang C, et al. - Patients with DVT (deep venous thrombosis) were examined for levels of GDF-15 (growth differentiation factor-15), and further, its association with the thrombus burden was investigated. Researchers assessed 72 newly diagnosed DVT patients and 30 healthy volunteers and identified significantly higher mean levels of plasma GDF-15 in DVT patients vs healthy controls. They observed more thrombus severity in correlation with increased GDF-15 level among DVT patients; a possible inhibitory effect of GDF-15 was suggested on platelet aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate in vitro. Findings thereby imply the possible value of GDF-15 as an indicator for thrombus severity as well as a potential treatment target in DVT.