title: Comparative study of policosanol, aspirin and the combination therapy policosanol-aspirin on platelet aggregation in healthy volunteers.
abstract: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 43 healthy volunteers to compare the effects of policosanol (20 mg day-1), aspirin (ASA) (100 mg day-1) and combination therapy (policosanol 20 mg day-1 plus ASA 100 mg day-1) on platelet aggregation. The healthy volunteers were randomly treated for 7 days. Both, platelet aggregation and coagulation time were measured at baseline and after therapy. When policosanol was administered platelet aggregation induced by ADP (37.3%), epinephrine (32.6%) and collagen (40.5%) were significantly reduced. Meanwhile, aspirin significantly reduced platelet aggregation induced by collagen (61.4%) and epinephrine (21.9%) but not ADP-induced aggregation. Combined therapy significantly inhibited aggregation induced by all the agonists reaching the highest reductions of platelet aggregation induced by collagen (71.3%) and epinephrine (57.5%). Coagulation time did not change significantly in any group. No subject withdrew from the trial. Four volunteers reported mild adverse experiences during the study: three ASA-treated cases referred headache, epigastralgia and nose bleeding, meanwhile one patient receiving combination therapy reported gum bleeding. The present results demonstrate that policosanol (20 mg day-1) is as effective as ASA (100 mg day-1). Moreover, combination therapy shows some advantages compared with the respective monotherapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Centre of Natural Products, CNIC, Habana, Cuba.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Arruzazabala
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Más
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carbajal
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fernández
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001241:Aspirin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000187:drug effects; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005233:Fatty Alcohols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D005233:Fatty Alcohols; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; C080710:policosanol; D001241:Aspirin