Correction of the platelet adhesion defect in delta-storage pool deficiency
at elevated hematocrit--possible role of adenosine diphosphate
HJ Weiss, B Lages, T Hoffmann and VT Turitto
Department of Medicine, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, NY
10019, USA.
Previous studies on patients with storage pool deficiency (SPD) who are
specifically deficient in platelet dense granules (delta-SPD) have
suggested a role for dense granule substances, in all likelihood adenosine
diphosphate (ADP), in mediating thrombus formation on subendothelium at
high shear rates. The role of dense granule substances in mediating
platelet adhesion appears to be more complicated Previous studies in
delta-SPD suggested an adhesion defect that was strongly influenced by the
patient's hematocrit (Hct) value. To explore further the possibility that
red blood cells (RBCs) may influence the role that platelet storage
granules play in mediating adhesion at high shear rates, we have measured
adhesion (and thrombus formation) throughout a preselected range of Hct
values (30% to 60%) in normal subjects and in patients with delta-SPD. The
present studies confirm the defect in platelet adhesion in patients with
delta-SPD, most significantly at Hct values of 30% to 40%. This defect (but
not that of thrombus formation) can be completely corrected by the addition
of RBCs. The correction of the platelet adhesion defect by RBCs was
specific for delta-SPD; it was not observed in either von Willebrand's
disease or thrombasthenia. Studies performed on normal blood under
conditions that could be expected to block any effect of ADP on adhesion
and an analysis of the type of adhesion defect in delta-SPD suggest that
ADP may be involved in the process required for platelet spreading on the
subendothelium. The corrective effect of RBCs on platelet adhesion in
delta-SPD appears to be chemical rather than physical in nature, possibly
due to shear-induced release of RBC ADP or to other recently described
properties of RBCs that enhance collagen- induced platelet interactions.
Volume 87,
Issue 10,
pp. 4214-4222,
05/15/1996
Copyright © 1996 by The American Society of Hematology