title: Cis-unsaturated fatty acids and platelet function.
abstract: The main method to study platelet function in dietary studies has been the platelet aggregation test in vitro. Even though it is well established that dietary cis-unsaturated fatty acids (FAs) modify platelet aggregation some uncertainty still exists how to interpret the in vitro results in the context of a situation in vivo. The other ways to look at platelet activation are measurements of thromboxane metabolites in urine or the concentration of beta-thromboglobulin (betaTG) released from alpha-granules. Dietary fish oil or long-chain n-3 FAs lower the high basal excretion rate of thromboxane, while only a modest effect is noticed at a low basal excretion rate. Results on the effects of other cis-unsaturated FAs on urinary TXB2 metabolites are almost totally lacking. Furthermore, platelet betaTG release in vivo does not seem to be affected by changes in dietary FAs. The regulatory function of dietary FAs in platelets is extremely complex, and clearly more should be understood about the association between dietary FAs and platelet membrane FAs in connection with platelet responses to physiological stimuli and subsequent signal transduction inside the platelets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology (Nutrition), University of Helsinki, Finland. Marja.Mutanen@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mutanen
mesh_terms: D001095:Arachidonic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005224:Fats, Unsaturated / Q000737:chemistry; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015539:Platelet Activation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D001095:Arachidonic Acids; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D005224:Fats, Unsaturated; D005227:Fatty Acids