Recovery Of Platelet Function After Aspirin Ingestion: In Vivo And In Vitro Studies
Blood was taken from normal volunteers before and two hours after a 600mg oral dose of aspirin (ASA). Platelet rich plasma (PRP) was prepared from both samples. Mixtures of normal and ASA treated PRP were tested for aggregation responses and for production of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) by RIA (New England Nuclear). Normal aggregation responses were found when the mixture contained 26% of normal platelets (NP) with ADP, 40% NP with adrenalin, 54% NP with collagen and 52% NP with arachidonic acid (AA)(Mean Values). TXB2 production in the mixtures increased when the proportion of normal platelets was raised above 10 to 30%. These findings indicate partial restoration of platelet function by an admixture of 10-20% NP to ASA treated platelets although 50% NP was necessary to restore all functions tested. In vivo studies on seven volunteers given 300mg ASA showed partial recovery of malondialdehyde production after 72 hours, partial return of aggregation responses to collagen, ADP, adrenalin and AA at 96 hours and partial or full return of aggregation responses in all subjects by 120 hours. Since new platelets enter the circulation at the rate of 10-15% per day the results of our in vitro studies suggest that some recovery of platelet function might occur as soon as 24 hours after a dose of ASA and full recovery within 3-5 days. The longer recovery period indicated by the in vivo studies may be attributable to the effect of ASA on megakaryocyte cyclooxygenase.Conclusion: ASA administered once every 24 hours may be sufficient to suppress platelet function adequately and continuously but partial recovery of function might occur 48-72 hours after ASA ingestion.