Summary
Further studies are reported on the mechanism by which platelets from patients with
arterial disease develop abnormal electrophoretic sensitivity to adenosine diphosphate
(ADP). Plasma from such patients can only induce abnormal platelet sensitivity to
ADP if ADP is itself present. There are two separate effects of ADP on human platelets,
one which allows platelets to interact with abnormal plasma, and another which is
reflected by changes in platelet electrophoretic mobility ; the former is inhibited
by cyanide, and the latter is not.
The effects of lecithin on normal platelets are similar to those of abnormal plasma,
but if lecithin is incubated with plasma before addition to platelets its effect is
lost.