Enhancing Effect of Collagen Receptor Polymorphisms on In Vitro Platelet Reactivity to Aspirin in Healthy Subjects.

[Background]

Aspirin (ASA) is widely used as an antiplatelet drug, and a large number of clinical trials with ASA demonstrated significant efficacies for prevention and treatment of athrothrombosis. Recently, accumulating evidences indicated that there are inter-individual variations in the platelet response to ASA. The subpopulation, called ASA resistance, has the inability of response to ASA on ex vivo or in vitro platelet function tests and the poor clinical outcomes, although the mechanism underlying the variability is largely unknown. To date, genetic factors were showed to have an impact on platelet reactivity to ASA, and the inter-individual variations in platelet response to ASA was also reported to be associated with platelet sensitivity to collagen. In this study, the association between collagen-induced platelet aggregation (CIPA) and genetic polymorphisms of collagen receptors, glycoprotein (GP) Ia and GPVI, was analyzed using platelets treated by ASA (ASA +/−). We also investigated the effect of these polymorphisms on platelet thromboxane (TXB2) levels, closely related to the final stages of the arachidonate pathway inhibited by ASA.

[Methods]

We recruited genetically unrelated Japanese males (n=172) at their regular checkups. The mean age was 46.7±5.1 years. The subjects had no apparent hematologic or vascular disease and were not taking any medications that affect platelet function. Written informed consent was obtained from all study subjects. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) sample was incubated with ASA [final concentration (fc) 10μM] or vehicle for 30 min at 24 degree Centigrade, and CIPA (fc 2μg/ml) test was performed on each PRP sample. Subsequently, platelet TXB2 levels were measured in the supernatant after centrifugation of each sample of CIPA test. Genotypes of the 807TC, Glu534Lys, Asn927Ser polymorphisms of GPIa and the Ser219Pro, Lys237Glu, Thr249Ala, Gln317Leu, His322Asn polymorphisms of GPVI were determined using the single-nucleotide primer extension-based method.

[Results]

To examine the sensitivity of platelets to ASA in vitro, we analyzed CIPA and platelet TXB2 levels in ASA(+/−). The maximum platelet aggregation and TXB2 levels in ASA(+) were significantly lower than those in ASA(−) (paired t-test, p<0.0001 and p<0.0001, respectively). Next, we investigated the association between the collagen receptor polymorphisms and the maximum platelet aggregation in ASA (+/−). For ASA(−), all genotypes of GPIa and GPVI were not associated with the maximum platelet aggregation. For ASA(+), subjects with 807TT/TC of GPIa had higher aggregation compared to those with 807CC(P=0.0135) whereas no association was observed between other polymorphisms and the maximum platelet aggregation. Moreover, repeated measures ANOVA showed that the difference in this inhibitory effect of ASA was significant between the 807TT/TC and 807CC genotypes (p=0.0253); the 807CC genotype has higher inhibitory effect of ASA. There was no association between platelet TXB2 levels and the GPIa and GPVI polymorphisms both in ASA(+) and ASA(−).

[Conclusion]

The 807CC genotype of GPIa polymorphism is associated with higher sensitivity to ASA in CIPA.