Blood tests may show elevated creatinine and urea levels (in kidney involvement), raised IgA levels (in about 50%), and raised C-reactive protein (CRP) or erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) results; none are specific for Henoch–Schönlein purpura. The platelet count may be raised, and distinguishes it from diseases where low platelets are the cause of the purpura, such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.If there is doubt about the cause of the skin lesions, a biopsy of the skin may be performed to distinguish the purpura from other diseases that cause it, such as vasculitis due to cryoglobulinemia; on microscopy, the appearances are of a hypersensitivity vasculitis, and immunofluorescence demonstrates IgA and C3 (a protein of the complement system) in the blood vessel wall. However, overall serum complement levels are normal. On the basis of symptoms, it is possible to distinguish HSP from hypersensitivity vasculitis (HV). In a series comparing 85 HSP patients with 93 HV patients, five symptoms were found to be indicative of HSP: palpable purpura, abdominal angina, digestive tract hemorrhage (not due to intussussception), hematuria and age less than 20. The presence of three or more of these indicators has an 87% sensitivity for predicting HSP.Biopsy of the kidney may be performed both to establish the diagnosis or to assess the severity of already suspected kidney disease. The main findings on kidney biopsy are increased cells and Ig deposition in the mesangium (part of the glomerulus, where blood is filtered), white blood cells, and the development of crescents.
The letter x is used to represent the number of chromosomes in a single set:
haploid (one set; 1x)
diploid (two sets; 2x)
triploid (three sets; 3x), for example sterile saffron crocus, or seedless watermelons, also common in the phylum Tardigrada
tetraploid (four sets; 4x), for example Salmonidae fish, the cotton Gossypium hirsutum
pentaploid (five sets; 5x), for example Kenai Birch (Betula kenaica)
hexaploid (six sets; 6x), for example some species of wheat, kiwifruit
heptaploid or septaploid (seven sets; 7x)
octaploid or octoploid, (eight sets; 8x), for example Acipenser (genus of sturgeon fish), dahlias
decaploid (ten sets; 10x), for example certain strawberries
dodecaploid or duodecaploid (twelve sets; 12x), for example the plants Celosia argentea and Spartina anglica  or the amphibian Xenopus ruwenzoriensis. Classification
Autopolyploidy
Autopolyploids are polyploids with multiple chromosome sets derived from a single taxon. Two examples of natural autopolyploids are the piggyback plant, Tolmiea menzisii and the white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanum. Most instances of autopolyploidy result from the fusion of unreduced (2n) gametes, which results in either triploid (n + 2n = 3n) or tetraploid (2n + 2n = 4n) offspring. Triploid offspring are typically sterile (as in the phenomenon of triploid block), but in some cases they may produce high proportions of unreduced gametes and thus aid the formation of tetraploids. This pathway to tetraploidy is referred to as the triploid bridge. Triploids may also persist through asexual reproduction. In fact, stable autotriploidy in plants is often associated with apomictic mating systems. In agricultural systems, autotriploidy can result in seedlessness, as in watermelons and bananas.