title: Serotonin-induced platelet aggregation predicts the antihypertensive response to serotonin receptor antagonists.
abstract: The 5-HT2-receptor antagonist ketanserin (20-40 mg b.i.d.) was administered to 62 patients of both sexes with uncomplicated primary hypertension. After 4 weeks of treatment about 50% of the patients had reached the target diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or below. Interindividual variability was large. In a retrospective analysis the variability could not be explained by sex or the dose of ketanserin. There was a weak association between age and systolic blood pressure response (r = 0.24; P = 0.06), which could be entirely accounted for by the higher base line blood pressure in the elderly patients. In one group of patients (n = 12), the ex vivo aggregation to serotonin (10(-6) M) was studied during treatment with placebo and ketanserin. Ketanserin completely inhibited 5-HT-induced aggregation in all patients. There was a close correlation between the area under the 5-HT-induced platelet aggregation curve during placebo and the subsequent reduction in diastolic blood pressure after 4 weeks of treatment with ketanserin. The present data suggest that the blood pressure response to ketanserin can be predicted from the ex vivo sensitivity of platelets to serotonin. By implication, they also support a role for serotonergic mechanisms in hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Glostrup Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gleerup
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hedner
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Winther
mesh_terms: D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate / Q000494:pharmacology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D007650:Ketanserin / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D012701:Serotonin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists; D012701:Serotonin; D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate; D007650:Ketanserin; D004837:Epinephrine