Platelet aggregation in diabetic Nigerians

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of macrovascular thrombosis among African diabetic patients has been shown to be lower than in Caucasians. Differences in platelet aggregation may be responsible for this observation. There has been no previous study of platelet aggregation among type-2 diabetic Nigerians. The aim of this study was to investigate platelet aggregation among diabetic Nigerian patients. Platelets from 34 diabetic patients [24 males, 10 females] and 35 control subjects were studied for aggregation in response to adenosine, ADP, and adrenaline. The intensity of the aggregation was categorized as excellent [>80%], moderate [30% - 79%], and poor [<30%]. Diabetic and control subjects were of similar age, and had similar platelet counts and serum antithrombin III levels. Similarly, both diabetic patients and control subjects demonstrated lower platelet aggregation to collagen, ADP and adrenaline. However, while all control subjects exhibited spontaneous disaggregation with ADP, this was not seen in 14% of the diabetic patients [P<0.05]. In diabetic Nigerians, although there is increased tendency to impaired platelet disaggregation, platelet hyper-aggregability is uncommon and this may be one of the reasons for the observed low incidence of large vessel disease, especially coronary artery disease, in our patients