Cigarette smoking and platelet function

Abstract

To assess the influence of cigarette smoking on platelet activation, we studied the changes in intraplatelet and platelet-released serotonin (5-HT) and plasma levels and platelet-associated production of thromboxane B2 (TXB2), in 6 non smokers and 6 habitual smokers, before and after acute exposure to smoke. Before smoking, habitual smokers showed slightly higher, albeit not significantly, 5-HT platelet concentrations and TXB2 plasma levels, as well as lower TXB2 platelet production after collagen and even more after ADP stimulation (0.59±0.27 vs 1.35±0.46 and 0.99+0.47 vs 2.08±0.51 ng/108 platelets for habitual smokers vs controls, 4 and 10 min after ADP, p<0.02). No significant differences in platelet 5-HT release were observed. Acute smoking did not induce any significant change from baseline in either 5-HT or TXB2 for controls, while significantly reduced TXB2 production from ADP-challenged platelets from habitual smokers (0.30±0.15 vs 0.59±0.27 ng/108 platelets, immediately after smoking vs baseline, p<0.01). Ninety min after the completion of the smoking, the values had returned to baseline. Immediately after smoking, significant differences were found between habitual smokers and controls for TXB2 platelet production (2.76±1.78 vs 6.42±1.60, p<0.025 and 3.01±1.90 vs 6.44±2.26 ng/108 platelets, p<0.05, for habitual smokers vs controls, 4 and 10 min after the addition of collagen; 0.30±0.15 vs 1.20±0.84 and 0.79±0.50 vs 1.70±0.74 ng/10 8 platelets, p <0.05, after ADP stimulation). Differences were no longer significant 90 min after smoking. Our data indicate that cigarette smoking is associated with platelet dysfunction, which seems due to impairment of metabolic platelet capacity rather than increased platelet activation in vivo.