SummaryAggregation of cat platelets in the citrated plasma is examined by means of Born’s absorptiometer. A marked tendency of the platelets of this species to spontaneous aggregation necessitated first of all the development of an improved technique of blood collection.A hypothesis according to which 5-HT is released from the platelets, explains the absence of oscillations on the base line of the absorptiometer, the absence of platelet swelling, when ADP is added, and the effect of stirring on the aggregation curves in cat PRP. The average volume of cat platelets amounts to 10.46 μ3 when directly fixed in the blood, when fixed from PRP to 12.17 μ3, when fixed from stirred PRP to 13.51 μ3.In low concentrations (0.3-2 μM) ADP produce reversible aggregation; in narrowly restricted, individually dissimilar mean concentrations irreversible aggregation in two phases and in high concentrations, irreversible aggregation in one phase. Like ADP serotonin produces 2 phase irreversible aggregation in concentrations of 3-10 μM, but unlike ADP, the aggregation velocity decreases again with high 5-HT concentrations (>100 μM). Adrenaline does not produce aggregation and it is likely that adenosine and adenosine monophosphate inhibit the aggregation by serotonin but not by ADP. Species differences in the aggregation of human, rabbit and cat platelets are discussed.
