title: Platelet function beyond hemostasis and thrombosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The platelet paradigm that is well established in hemostasis and thrombosis can be extended to other disease states. A consideration for some major health issues, such as inflammation, cancer, infection, and neuroscience, and how platelet function impacts the pathophysiology of each clinical situation is provided.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Decades of research and knowledge of platelet function exist and the same is true for inflammation and cancer. The literature is full of platelet biology overlapping into other, nonthrombotic disease states. However, major gaps exist that prevent a complete mechanistic understanding of platelet function in these other diseases. Although much of the overlap provides antidotal relationships, future studies will likely uncover novel pathophysiological pathways that are highly relevant to human diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recent findings in four major disease areas, inflammation, cancer, infection, and neuroscience, are described, with current literature linking the disease to platelet function. The availability of antiplatelet therapies, such as aspirin, exists and future consideration can be given as to whether antiplatelet therapy is potentially beneficial or harmful as the mechanisms of platelet involvement are better defined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205, USA. jware@uams.edu
authors.forename: Jerry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ware
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corken
authors.forename: Reshma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khetpal
mesh_terms: D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000502:physiology*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006487:Hemostasis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*