A comparative study of platelet aggregation in primates

Effects of ADP and epinephrine on macaque and human platelets. Implications for studies on human atherosclerosis

The ranges for near-threshold ADP concentrations for the aggregation of macaque and human citrated platelets overlapped. The minimum concentrations of epinephrine, 0.05 microM to 1.0 microM, that at least doubled the aggregation response at threshold ADP concentrations were comparable for macaque and human citrated platelets. Epinephrine (1.0 microM to 10 mM) alone never aggregated macaque citrated platelets. Biphasic aggregation occurred with both macaque and human citrated platelets. The addition of heparin to a final concentration of 2.2 units/ml had no effect on the threshold ADP concentrations or the sensitivity of macaque or human citrated platelets to epinephrine. One microM phentolamine eliminated the potentiating effect of 1 microM epinephrine on ADP-induced aggregation of macaque and human citrated platelets. The threshold concentrations of ADP for macaque platelets were sharply reduced when heparin was used as an anticoagulant rather than citrate. However, epinephrine induced a similar increase in aggregability with both citrated and heparinized platelets, 0.55 +/- 0.09 SEM% and 0.44 +/- 0.09 SEM%, respectively. These data indicate that macaque and human platelets behave in a similar manner in response to ADP and that epinephrine potentiates the ADP-induced aggregation of macaque and human platelets equally well.

Mammalian platelet adrenoceptors

Mammalian platelets vary widely in their responses to catecholamines in part because these agonists can act via excitatory alpha- and inhibitory beta-adrenoceptors. In the absence of antagonists, adrenaline enhances the response of rabbit platelets to an excitatory agonist, e.g. adenosine-5'-O-(1-thiodiphosphate) (ADP-alpha-s) acting at another receptor, but has no effect on the response of rat or guinea pig platelets to such an agonist. In the presence of a beta-adrenoceptor antagonist, adrenaline enhances the response of rat, but not guinea-pig platelets to ADP-alpha-S and the extent of the enhanced effect on rabbit platelets is increased. In the presence of an alpha-adrenoceptor antagonist, adrenaline inhibits the response of rabbit and rat platelets to ADP-alpha-S but has no such effect on the response of guinea-pig platelets. Studies using selective agonists and antagonists demonstrate that the excitatory response of rat platelets to adrenaline is mediated by an alpha 2-adrenoceptor, and the inhibitory response of rabbit platelets to adrenaline by a beta 2-adrenoceptor as is the case in other species which have been examined. The mean alpha 2-adrenoceptor density on human, rabbit, rat and guinea-pig platelets as assessed using [3H]-yohimbine as radioligand is obtained as 258, 270, 42 and less than 10 receptors per platelet. The mean beta 2-adrenoceptor density on human, rabbit, rat and guinea-pig platelets as assessed using (-)-[125I]-iodocyanopindolol is obtained as 66, 14, 41 and less than 5 receptors per platelet. The nature of the effect of adrenaline on the response of mammalian platelets to other excitatory agonists, e.g. ADP-alpha-S, appears therefore to be largely determined by the absolute number of alpha 2-adrenoceptors and by the relative content of alpha 2- and beta 2-adrenoceptors on these cells for the species which have been examined in this analysis.