Resistance to aspirin in vitro at rest and during exercise in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease.
BACKGROUND
Acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin, is widely used in secondary prevention of coronary artery diseases, but the inhibition of platelet aggregation is not uniform in all individuals.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of aspirin resistance at rest and during exercise in coronary artery disease patients.


METHODS
Fifty patients with stable coronary artery disease were prospectively studied. All patients received aspirin (75-300 mg/day for >1 month) and no other antiplatelet therapy. Aspirin resistance was studied, at rest and immediately after a stress test, using the standardized platelet function analyzer (PFA-100(R), Dade-Behring). Aspirin resistance was defined as a normal collagen/epinephrine closure time (<186 s).


RESULTS
Ten patients (20%) were aspirin-resistant at rest. Out of the 40 patients who were aspirin-sensitive at rest, 9 (22%) were aspirin-resistant immediately after the exercise stress test. There were no differences in aspirin sensitivity regarding gender, age, diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, platelet count, medical treatment or number of the coronary arteries involved.


CONCLUSIONS
Aspirin resistance is detected, at rest, in 20% of our patients with stable coronary artery disease. Aspirin treatment does not seem to protect against exercise-induced platelet activation in 22% of such patients, despite aspirin sensitivity at rest.
Christiaens
L
L
Departement Médico-chirurgical de Cardiologie, Hôpital la Miletrie, 86021 Poitiers, France. l.christiaens@chu-poitiers.fr
Macchi
L
L
Herpin
D
D
Coisne
D
D
Duplantier
C
C
Allal
J
J
Mauco
G
G
Brizard
A
A
D000368:Aged; D001241:Aspirin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015539:Platelet Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010979:Platelet Function Tests; D012146:Rest
D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin