TPO and essential thrombocythemia: By analyzing samples from 16 patients with TN-ET, 17 patients with mutated ET, and 8 healthy individuals, we found that the levels of TPO and IL-6 were increased in the patients with TN-ET and mutated ET compared to the healthy controls, but there was no significant difference among the groups, implying that the increases in the levels of TPO and IL-6 do not or only partly promote thrombocytosis in TN-ET (Fig. 4C,D).