A comparative study of the absorption and antiplatelet effect of aspirin-glycine vs baby aspirin.

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.