Utility of 96-well plate aggregometry and measurement of thrombi adhesion to determine aspirin and clopidogrel effectiveness.

Aspirin and clopidogrel are key anti-thrombotic therapies. Results from platelet reactivity testing during therapy, have been shown to correlate with future events and would allow for the optimisation of therapy. However, there is little agreement among current tests and there remains a clear clinical need for a universal standardised test. It was the objective of this study to explore the potential of 96-well plate aggregometry as a definitive clinical test of platelet reactivity with respect to aspirin and clopidogrel. A small non-blinded trial of 16 healthy male volunteers assigned to seven days of aspirin (75mg/day) or clopidogrel (75mg/day) therapy. Blood was collected before and on day 7 of treatment. Platelet aggregation was measured using a 96-well plate based aggregation method, and thrombi adhesion measured by colourimetric assay. Platelet agonists used were ADP (0.1-30microM), arachidonic acid (0.03-1.3mM), collagen (0.1-30microg/ml), adrenaline (0.001-100microM), ristocetin (0.2-3mg/ml), TRAP6 amide (0.130microM) and U46619 (0.130microM). Concentration response curves were constructed to each agonist under the various conditions and used to extract data such as log EC(50), Hill slope, and area under the curve. These demonstrated low intra- and inter-assay variability and strong discrimination of drug effects. This study demonstrates the ability of the 96-well plate based aggregation and adhesion method to detect and differentiate between stable aspirin and clopidogrel treatment in healthy volunteers. Moreover, this assay marries the ability to test subjects or patients using a range of platelet agonists with more rapidity and ease than the current gold standard platelet assay, traditional light transmission aggregometry, making it a serious alternative assay for use in clinical settings.

Pregnane X receptor regulates drug metabolism and transport in the vasculature and protects from oxidative stress.

AIMS: Circulating endogenous, dietary, and foreign chemicals can contribute to vascular dysfunction. The mechanism by which the vasculature protects itself from these chemicals is unknown. This study investigates whether the pregnane X receptor (PXR), the major transcriptional regulator of hepatic drug metabolism and transport that responds to such xenobiotics, mediates vascular protection by co-ordinating a defence gene programme in the vasculature. METHODS AND RESULTS: PXR was detected in primary human and rat aortic endothelial and smooth muscle cells (SMC) and blood vessels including the human and rat aorta. Metabolic PXR target genes cytochrome P450 3A, 2B, 2C, and glutathione S-transferase mRNA and activity were induced by PXR ligands in rodent and human vascular cells and absent in the aortas from PXR-null mice stimulated in vivo or in rat aortic SMC expressing dominant-negative PXR. Activation of aortic PXR by classical agonists had several protective effects: increased xenobiotic metabolism demonstrated by bioactivation of the pro-drug clopidogrel, which reduced adenosine diphosphate-induced platelet aggregation; increased expression of multidrug resistance protein 1, mediating chemical efflux from the vasculature; and protection from reactive oxygen species-mediated cell death. CONCLUSION: PXR co-ordinately up-regulates drug metabolism, transport, and antioxidant genes to protect the vasculature from endogenous and exogenous insults, thus representing a novel gatekeeper for vascular defence.

Gasotransmitters and platelets.

Platelets are essential to prevent blood loss and promote wound healing. Their activation comprises of several complex steps which are regulated by a range of mediators. Over the last few decades there has been intense interest in a group of gaseous mediators known as gasotransmitters; currently comprising nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen sulphide (H(2)S). Here we consider the action of gasotransmitters on platelet activity. NO is a well established platelet inhibitor which mediates its effects predominantly through activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase leading to a decrease in intraplatelet calcium. More recently CO has been identified as a gasotransmitter with inhibitory actions on platelets; CO acts through the same mechanism as NO but is less potent. The in vivo and platelet functions of the most recently identified gasotransmitter, H(2)S, are still the subject of investigations, but they appear generally inhibitory. Whilst there is evidence for the individual action of these mediators, it is also likely that combinations of these mediators are more relevant regulators of platelets. Furthermore, current evidence suggests that these mediators in combination alter the production of each other, and so modify the circulating levels of gasotransmitters. The use of gasotransmitters as therapeutic agents is also being explored for a range of indications. In conclusion, the importance of NO in the regulation of vascular tone and platelet activity has long been understood. Other gasotransmitters are now establishing themselves as mediators of vascular tone, and recent evidence suggests that these other gasotransmitters may also modulate platelet function.