title: Abacavir has no prothrombotic effect on platelets in vitro.
abstract: HIV patients exposed to abacavir have an increased risk of myocardial infarction, with contradictory results in the literature. The aim of our study was to determine whether abacavir has a direct effect on platelet activation and aggregation using platelets from healthy donors and from HIV-infected patients under therapy with an undetectable viral load.
  
  
  
  Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or whole blood from healthy donors was treated with abacavir (5 or 10 μg/mL) or its active metabolite carbovir diphosphate. Experiments were also performed using blood of HIV-infected patients (n = 10) with an undetectable viral load. Platelet aggregation was performed on PRP by turbidimetry and under high shear conditions at 4000 s-1. Platelet procoagulant potential was analysed by measuring thrombin generation by thrombinography.
  
  
  
  Abacavir and carbovir diphosphate significantly increased the aggregation of platelets from healthy donors induced by collagen at 2 μg/mL (P = 0.002), but not at 0.5 μg/mL. No effect of abacavir or carbovir diphosphate was observed on platelet aggregation induced by other physiological agonists or by high shear stress, or on thrombin generation. Pretreatment of blood from HIV-infected patients with abacavir produced similar results.
  
  
  
  Our results suggest that abacavir does not significantly influence platelet activation in vitro when incubated with platelets from healthy donors or from HIV-infected patients. It is, however, not excluded that a synergistic effect with other drugs could promote platelet activation and thereby play a role in the pathogenesis of myocardial infarction.
authors: INSERM U1148, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.
authors: Yacouba L
authors: YL
authors: Diallo
authors: INSERM U1148, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.
authors: Véronique
authors: V
authors: Ollivier
authors: Service des Maladies Infectieuses et tropicales, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Nord Val de Seine, AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.|Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris, France.
authors: Véronique
authors: V
authors: Joly
authors: INSERM U1148, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.|Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris, France.|Département d'hématologie, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Nord Val de Seine, AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.
authors: Dorothée
authors: D
authors: Faille
authors: Service des Maladies Infectieuses et tropicales, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Nord Val de Seine, AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.|Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris, France.
authors: Giovanna
authors: G
authors: Catalano
authors: INSERM U1148, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.|Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris, France.|Département d'hématologie, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Nord Val de Seine, AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.
authors: Martine
authors: M
authors: Jandrot-Perrus
authors: Institut d'Hématologie Transfusion, CHU Lille, F-59000 Lille, France.
authors: Antoine
authors: A
authors: Rauch
authors: Service des Maladies Infectieuses et tropicales, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Nord Val de Seine, AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.|Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris, France.
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Yeni
authors: INSERM U1148, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France nadine.ajzenberg@aphp.fr.|Université Paris-Diderot, Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris, France.|Département d'hématologie, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Nord Val de Seine, AP-HP, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.
authors: Nadine
authors: N
authors: Ajzenberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects*; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015539:Platelet Activation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010974:Platelet Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects*; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D013917:Thrombin / Q000378:metabolism; D000099227:Abacavir
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D013917:Thrombin; D000099227:Abacavir; C057503:carbovir