Furthermore, we assessed GATA-2 and HOXB4 expression in CD34-positive cells from patients with aplastic anemia (n = 10) and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (n = 13), and demonstrated that the expression levels of HOXB4 and GATA-2 were correlated in these populations (r = 0.6573, p<0.01). Here, HOXB4 is linked to autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura.