CYCLOOXYGENASE INDIPENDENT PLATELET AGGREGATION:RELATION WITH ASPI RIN CONCENTRATION
Low doses of aspirin (20 mg/day) were previously reported to be uneffective in preventing platelet aggregation (PA) induced by pairs of aggregating agents such as PAF and adrenalin.This was in part attributed to the inability of such treatment to inhibit lipo oxygenase-dependent PA.The latter can be observed in vitro in"aspl rinated"platelets stimulated with high quantities of aggregating -agents.The aim of this study was to evaluate if the lipooxygenase-dependent PA was influenced by aspirin in a dose-dependent fashion. PA was studied in platelet rich plasma (PRP)(Born's method) by using threshold doses of aggregating agents (TDA) such as PAF(4-75 nM),epinephrine(0.6-2 μM) and collagen(2-4 μg/ml).PA performed in PRP pretrated with 100μM aspirin was fully prevented;in the same samples thromboxane (Tx) A2 evaluated by its metabolite Tx B2 was almost absent.Increasing amount of PAF(20 fold TDA),epinephrine(20 fold TDA) and collagen (36 fold TDA) do aggregate"aspirinated"pla telets;similarly"aspirinated"platelets aggregate when stimulated-with a pair of aggregating agents (TDA of PAF+epinephrine).This phenomenon was not detected if platelets were incubated with higher amounts of aspirin (250-500 μM).The study suggests that aspirin could influence lipooxygenase-dependent PA.This hypothesis is sup ported by a research showing the aspirin inhibits dose-dependently platelet HETE formation.A further study is now in progress to eva luate the influence of high doses of aspirin on cyclooxygenase-i"n dependent PA in vivo.