SALICYLATE-WARFARIN INTERACTION: EFFECTS ON SYSTEMIC ANTICOAGULATION, BLEEDING TIME, AND EXPERIMENTAL VENOUS THROMBOSIS
The potential benefit of the aspirin/warfarin association as an antithrombotic treatment has been matter of debate in view of the major haemorrhagic effect reported with this drug combination. We have tested the effect of such association in a model of venous thrombosis already shown to be prevented by a fully anticoagulant schedule of warfarin. CD-COBS male rats were treated for three days with either warfarin (0.1 mg/kg i.v. once a day) or salicylate (175 mg/kg i.p. twice a day) or their combination (W+S). Systemic anticoagulation (thrombotest), template bleeaing time and occurrence of experimental venous thrombosis (ligature of inferior vena cava) were followed. Treatment with W or S alone did not affect template bleeding time, whereas the association (W+S) did (320+35 sec versus 120± 10 sec in the control group, p<0.01). Thrombotest was only slightly prolonged by single drug treatment (W= 43%, S=48% versus 90% of controls) but strongly prolonged in the association group (S+W=5%; p<0.001). The mechanism of this combined effect may be multifaceted; competition of both drugs for protein binding and the anticoagulant effect of salicylate itself could contribute. In any case, neither the incidence nor the weight of the thrombus were reduced by any drug treatment. Thus, W+S, in contrast to W alone (<5% thrombotest), was unable to prevent or reduce venous thrombosis, while prolonging bleeding time. Bleeding complications reported in clinical trials by the association of W and aspirin might not be solely due to the antiplatelet effect of aspirin.