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Thromb Haemost 2009; 102(04): 772-778
DOI: 10.1160/TH09-04-0215
New Technologies, Diagnostic Tools and Drugs
Schattauer GmbH

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

Paul C. J. Armstrong
1   William Harvey Research Institute, Barts & the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
,
Al-Rehan Dhanji
1   William Harvey Research Institute, Barts & the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
,
Nicola J. Truss
1   William Harvey Research Institute, Barts & the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
,
Zetty N. M. Zain
1   William Harvey Research Institute, Barts & the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
,
Arthur T. Tucker
1   William Harvey Research Institute, Barts & the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
2   Ernest Cooke Clinical Microvascular Unit, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Barts & The London NHS Trust, London, UK
,
Jane A. Mitchell
3   Cardiothoracic Pharmacology, Unit of Critical Care Medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK
,
Timothy D. Warner
1   William Harvey Research Institute, Barts & the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
› Author AffiliationsFinancial support: This research was supported by European Community FP6 funding (“Eicosanox”; LSHMCT-2004–0050333), British Heart Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Government of Malaysia. This publication reflects only the authors’ views. The European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of information herein.
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 01 April 2009

Accepted after major revision: 05 July 2009

Publication Date:
24 November 2017 (online)

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Summary

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 (0.1–30µM), arachidonic acid (0.03–1.3mM), collagen (0.1–30µg/ml), adrenaline (0.001–100µM), ristocetin (0.2–3mg/ ml),TRAP6 amide (0.130µM) and U46619 (0.130µM). Concentration response curves were constructed to each agonist under the various conditions and used to extract data such as log EC50, Hill slope, and area under the curve. These demonstrated low intraand 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.

Keywords

Aggregation - aspirin - clopidogrel - platelets
 

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