ABSTRACT
Baby aspirin, due to its antiplatelet effects, is a drug of choice in the prevention of recurrent ischemic stroke. Since gastric irritation is a major problem in long term aspirin administration, aspirin-glycine has been developed to provide better bioavailability and efficacy. Aspirin-glycine, however, costs over twenty times more than baby aspirin, therefore, it is worthwhile comparing the efficacy of these two preparations of aspirin. We assessed absorption and antiplatelet effects f aspirin-glycine (100 mg ASA) and of baby aspirin (75 mg ASA) in 13 normal subjects) 5 men, 8 women, aged 25-63 years, mean 48 years). A single-blind cross-over design was used to compare the two treatments. A wash-out period of 2 weeks was applied. Blood samples were taken 4 times: before drug ingestion and at 5, 20 and 60 minutes after ingestion, to measure plasma slicylate levels and platelet aggregation. It was found that 5 minutes after aspirin-glycine ingestion plasma salicylate was detectable in 10 out of 13 subjects with X + SD = 4.92+ 2.54 mg%. At 20 and 60 minutes after ingestion plasma salicylate was detectable in all subjects with X+ SD = 5.14+ 1.82 and 5.76+ 3.33 mg% respectively. At 5, 20 and 60 minutes after ingestion of baby aspirin, plasma salicylate levels were detectable in only 6, 7 and 10 of the 13 subjects with X+ SD = 3.65+ 1.69, 3.67+ 1.61 and 4.28+ 1.62 mg% respectively. There was no significant difference between the two forms of aspirin regarding the inhibition of platelet aggregation. Side effects were not mentioned by any subjects during the experiment nor for two weeks thereafter.
ABSTRACT
Headache can be treated with acupuncture but its mechanism is virtually unknown. Since serotonin is considered to be an important factor as well as hyperactive platelets in the causation of migraine headache, a before and after study design was employed to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on the platelet serotonin and platelet aggregation in headache patients. Thirty-three patients, 18 suffering migraine headaches and 15 tension headaches were treated with dry needle acupuncture accompanying breathing exercise. Platelet serotonin was measured by spectrophotofluorometric method before and after treatment and found to be increased in 25 patients and decreased in 8 patients. The former groups show a statistically significant increase of p<0.01 (mean difference 0.15 + 0.26). Platelet aggregation induced by aggregating agents was also calibrated as to maximum response. The aggregations induced by collagen 1 ug, ADP 3 Um, adrenaline 1 or 25 uM, were decreased after acupuncture with significant collagen-induced aggregation (p<0.05). This suggests platelet serotonin and aggregation play a significant role in the treatment of headache by both inhibiting aggregation and by serotonin release. Thus the platelet serotonin is increased. Some interesting pints have been discussed in this report.
ABSTRACT
Fructose-1, 6-diphosphate (FDP) is considered to be an effective agent for the relief of ischemia and vascular insufficiency. It is worthwhile to confirm this effect of FDP on platelet aggregation, fibrinolytic activity, platelet serotonin and plasma prostacyclin. This study was designed as a placebo-controlled, single-blind, crossover trial. There were 22 normal subjects: 12 males, 10 females with the age range of 21-40 years (mean = 32+6 years). A single FDP 150 mg/kg body weight dose was intravenously infused within 10 min. All the above parameters were assessed in all subjects before, and at ½ h and 6 h after the start of FDP. An equal volume of 10% glucose was used as the placebo in the same subjects in a similar manner. The results showed that FDP significantly inhibited platelet aggregation, increased both fibrinolytic activity and serotonin content in platelet. The interesting point is that FDP can maintain plasma prostacyclin for longer than 6 h after infusion. These considerable results indicated that FDP might be advantageous in relieving vascular occlusion or tissue ischemia in emergency patient. However more clinic trials of FDP are needed to confirm results.