Platelet P2Y12 Receptor Antagonist Research Articles

Identification of a new dysfunctional platelet P2Y12 receptor variant associated with bleeding diathesis

AbstractDefects of the platelet P2Y12 receptor (P2Y12R) for adenosine diphosphate (ADP) are associated with increased bleeding risk. The study of molecular abnormalities associated with inherited qualitative defects of the P2Y12R protein is useful to unravel structure-function relationships of the receptor. We describe the case of 2 brothers, sons of first cousins, with lifelong history of abnormal bleeding, associated with dysfunctional P2Y12R and a previously undescribed missense mutation in the encoding gene. ADP (4-20 µM)–induced aggregation of patients’ platelets was markedly reduced and rapidly reversible. Other agonists induced borderline-normal aggregation. Inhibition of vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein phosphorylation and prostaglandin E1–induced increase in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) by ADP was impaired, whereas inhibition of cAMP increase by epinephrine was normal. [3H]PSB-0413, a selective P2Y12R antagonist, bound to a normal number of binding sites; however, its affinity, and that of the agonists ADP and 2-methylthio-adenosine-5′-diphosphate, was reduced. Patients’ DNA showed a homozygous c.847T>A substitution that changed the codon for His-187 to Gln (p.His187Gln). Crystallographic data and molecular modeling studies indicated that His187 in transmembrane 5 is important for agonist and nucleotide antagonist binding and located in a region undergoing conformational changes. These studies delineate a region of P2Y12R required for normal function after ADP binding.

Early Ticagrelor Improves ST Segment Resolution after PCI

A secondary prespecified substudy analysis of the Administration of Ticagrelor in the Cath Lab or in the Ambulance for New ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction to Open the Coronary Artery [ATLANTIC; NCT01347580] assessed whether prehospital administration of the direct-acting platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist ticagrelor can improve coronary reperfusion and clinical outcomes in patients with STEMI. The results are discussed in this article

Signalling pathways and mechanisms of protection in pre- and postconditioning: historical perspective and lessons for the future.

Ischaemic pre- and postconditioning are potent cardioprotective interventions that spare ischaemic myocardium and decrease infarct size after periods of myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion. They are dependent on complex signalling pathways involving ligands released from ischaemic myocardium, G-protein-linked receptors, membrane growth factor receptors, phospholipids, signalling kinases, NO, PKC and PKG, mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channels, reactive oxygen species, TNF-α and sphingosine-1-phosphate. The final effector is probably the mitochondrial permeability transition pore and the signalling produces protection by preventing pore formation. Many investigators have worked to produce a roadmap of this signalling with the hope that it would reveal where one could intervene to therapeutically protect patients with acute myocardial infarction whose hearts are being reperfused. However, attempts to date to show efficacy of such an intervention in large clinical trials have been unsuccessful. Reasons for this inability to translate successes in the experimental laboratory to the clinical arena are evaluated in this review. It is suggested that all patients with acute coronary syndromes currently presenting to the hospital and being treated with platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonists, the current standard of care, are indeed already benefiting from protection from the conditioning pathways outlined earlier. If that proves to be the case, then future attempts to further decrease infarction will have to rely on interventions which protect by a different mechanism.

Prehospital Ticagrelor in ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

BackgroundThe direct-acting platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist ticagrelor can reduce the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events when administered at hospital admission to patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Whether prehospital administration of ticagrelor can improve coronary reperfusion and the clinical outcome is unknown.MethodsWe conducted an international, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study involving 1862 patients with ongoing STEMI of less than 6 hours' duration, comparing prehospital (in the ambulance) versus in-hospital (in the catheterization laboratory) treatment with ticagrelor. The coprimary end points were the proportion of patients who did not have a 70% or greater resolution of ST-segment elevation before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and the proportion of patients who did not have Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade 3 in the infarct-related artery at initial angiography. Secondary end points included the rates of major adverse cardiovascular events and definite stent thrombosis at 30 days.ResultsThe median time from randomization to angiography was 48 minutes, and the median time difference between the two treatment strategies was 31 minutes. The two coprimary end points did not differ significantly between the prehospital and in-hospital groups. The absence of ST-segment elevation resolution of 70% or greater after PCI (a secondary end point) was reported for 42.5% and 47.5% of the patients, respectively. The rates of major adverse cardiovascular events did not differ significantly between the two study groups. The rates of definite stent thrombosis were lower in the prehospital group than in the in-hospital group (0% vs. 0.8% in the first 24 hours; 0.2% vs. 1.2% at 30 days). Rates of major bleeding events were low and virtually identical in the two groups, regardless of the bleeding definition used.ConclusionsPrehospital administration of ticagrelor in patients with acute STEMI appeared to be safe but did not improve pre-PCI coronary reperfusion. (Funded by AstraZeneca; ATLANTIC ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01347580.)

Combined Cardioprotectant and Antithrombotic Actions of Platelet P2Y12 Receptor Antagonists in Acute Coronary Syndrome

Since the P2Y12 receptor antagonists were first introduced, they have been extensively tested in patients with acute coronary syndrome and are now standard of care. These antiplatelet drugs are very effective in reducing subsequent cardiovascular events, stent thromboses, and mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing reperfusion therapy. Although the prevailing view is that their benefit derives from their antithrombotic properties, other unrelated pleiotropic effects appear to be equally beneficial. Accumulating clinical and animal evidence indicates that, if present at the time of reperfusion, these drugs have a direct anti-infarct effect similar to that of ischemic postconditioning. Four oral antagonists have been developed in rapid succession: ticlopidine, clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor. Each agent had a more consistent and rapid onset of action than the previous one, and this has correlated with improved clinical outcomes when given early in treatment. Unfortunately, gut absorption causes an appreciable delay in the onset of effect, especially when morphine is used, and the constant push to minimize the door-to-balloon time has made it difficult to achieve adequate platelet inhibition at the time of percutaneous coronary intervention with an oral agent. An intravenous P2Y12 antagonist such as cangrelor may optimize treatment because it produces nearly maximal inhibition of platelet aggregation within minutes. If antiplatelet agents do protect through postconditioning's mechanism, then they would render any other intervention that protects through that mechanism redundant. Indeed, animals treated with cangrelor cannot be further protected by pre- or postconditioning. However, interventions that use a different mechanism such as mild hypothermia or cariporide, a Na(+)-H(+) exchange blocker, do add to cangrelor's protection. Future research should be directed toward identifying interventions that can augment the protection from antiplatelet therapy and finding a way to optimize P2Y12 inhibition at reperfusion in all patients.

Trials, registries and guidelines for non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes

Trials, registries and guidelines for non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes

Should Platelet Function Testing Guide Antiplatelet Therapy for Patients with Coronary Artery Stenting or Acute Coronary Syndromes?

Inhibition of platelet activation (“antiplatelet therapy”) with platelet P2Y12 (ADP) receptor antagonists (i.e., thienopyridines such as clopidogrel and prasugrel) reduces platelet-rich thrombi that cause coronary artery stent thrombosis and recurrent acute coronary syndrome (ACS)3 (i.e., unstable angina pectoris and myocardial infarction). However, several reports suggest that there are large interindividual variations in platelet inhibition by clopidogrel, with up to one-third of patients having apparently “high platelet reactivity” while on therapy; these patients may be at increased risk for stent thrombosis and recurrent ACS (1). Consequently, platelet function testing may identify patients in whom adjustment of thienopyridine therapy is warranted to minimize the risk of both ischemic and bleeding complications. The introduction of point-of-care devices has made it possible to consider the routine evaluation of on-treatment platelet reactivity in patients undergoing coronary stenting and in ACS patients. Platelet function testing has been used in the research setting to individualize dosing of thienopyridine therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous intervention (PCI) with or without stent placement and in ACS patients (1). Several platelet function assays are available, including light transmission aggregometry (LTA), vasodilator-stimulated …

Plasma and Whole Blood Clot Strength Measured by Thrombelastography in Patients Treated with Clopidogrel during Acute Coronary Syndromes

Treatment with clopidogrel, a selective platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist, reduces risk of recurrent ischemic events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), by limiting platelet aggregation and activation. Stable whole blood clot formation requires activation of platelets, generation of fibrin and final fibrin crosslinks. In this study we intended to compare plasma and whole blood thrombelastography (TEG) measurements in patients during ACS. Whole blood and plasma samples from 32 patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) were collected after administration of clopidogrel. Whole blood and plasma fibrin clot strength (MA) were determined by TEG. Platelet aggregation was determined by light transmittance aggregometry (LTA) using adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP), thrombin receptor activation peptide (TRAP), or collagen as agonists. Fibrinogen and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were measured by ELISA. Heightened plasma fibrin clot strength was associated with increased platelet reactivity stimulated by ADP (ρ=0.536; p=0.002), TRAP (ρ=0.481; p=0.007), and collagen (ρ=0.538; p=0.01). In contrast to plasma fibrin MA, whole blood MA did not correlate with platelet aggregation. Platelet count was the primary contributor to the difference in thrombin induced whole blood MA and plasma fibrin MA. Increasing levels of CRP were associated with increased plasma fibrin clot strength and platelet reactivity. Our data suggest that inflammation is associated with increased plasma fibrin clot strength and lower platelet inhibition by clopidogrel during ACS. Platelet count is a main contributor to additional contractile force of whole blood TEG as compared to plasma TEG during treatment with clopidogrel.

Ticagrelor immediately prior to stenting is associated with smaller residual thrombus in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Dual anti-platelet therapy during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) significantly improves clinical outcomes [1–3]. P2Y12 inhibitors are often administered after diagnostic procedures but prior to the start of PCI. Clopidogrel, the most commonly used platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist, is limited in this context by its delayed onset of action and variable efficacy. As a result, there is a potential vulnerable period of inadequate platelet inhibition after stent deployment if clopidogrel is administrated immediately prior to or during PCI.

Two Classes of Anti-Platelet Drugs Reduce Anatomical Infarct Size in Monkey Hearts

Recent studies in rabbits have demonstrated that platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonists are cardioprotective, and that the mechanism is surprisingly not related to blockade of platelet aggregation but rather to triggering of the same signal transduction pathway seen in pre- and postconditioning. We wanted to determine whether this same cardioprotection could be documented in a primate model and whether the protection was limited to P2Y12 receptor antagonists or was a class effect. Thirty-one macaque monkeys underwent 90-min LAD occlusion/4-h reperfusion. The platelet P2Y12 receptor blocker cangrelor started just prior to reperfusion significantly decreased infarction by an amount equivalent to that seen with ischemic postconditioning (p < 0.001). For any size of risk zone, infarct size in treated hearts was significantly smaller than that in control hearts. OM2, an investigational murine antibody against the primate collagen receptor glycoprotein (GP) VI, produced similar protection (p < 0.01) suggesting a class effect. Both cangrelor and OM2 were quite effective at blocking platelet aggregation (94 % and 97 %, respectively). Thus in a primate model in which infarct size could be determined directly platelet anti-aggregatory agents are cardioprotective. The important implication of these investigations is that patients with acute myocardial infarction who are treated with platelet anti-aggregatory agents prior to revascularization may already be in a postconditioned state. This hypothesis may explain why in recent clinical trials postconditioning-mimetic interventions which were so protective in animal models had at best only a modest effect.

Platelet Function Monitoring and Clopidogrel

Antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and a platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist reduces thrombotic and ischemic events after percutaneous coronary intervention and acute coronary syndrome. The platelet inhibitory effect of the thienopyridine clopidogrel varies widely among individuals, and high on-treatment platelet reactivity has been associated with a substantial hazard for post-PCI cardiovascular events, including stent thrombosis. The clinical availability of ex vivo methods to measure the antiplatelet effect of P2Y12 antagonists raises the possibility that incorporating platelet function testing into clinical practice could facilitate a stratified and efficient approach to antiplatelet therapy following PCI, although data from definitive randomized trials supporting a routine approach are currently lacking.

Beware of Novel Antiplatelet Therapy in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients With Previous Stroke

Dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and the platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist clopidogrel has become the cornerstone of the treatment of patients undergoing coronary stenting and of those with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) with or without stent implantation.1 Consequently, many patients in the cardiology practice in 2012 are on dual antiplatelet therapy, mainly aspirin and clopidogrel. The only important side effect of dual antiplatelet therapy is increased bleeding in comparison with aspirin alone. This has been established in the large trials with clopidogrel in acute coronary syndromes2,3 and thereafter,4 as well as in atrial fibrillation.5 Especially in the latter, dual antiplatelet therapy has been shown to be as hazardous as oral anticoagulation.6 The novel platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonists prasugrel and ticagrelor are more effective than clopidogrel in patients but show more noncoronary artery bypass graft–related thrombolysis in myocardial infarction major bleeding than clopidogrel.7,8 In the latter trial it became clear that patients with a previous stroke had significantly more bleeding with prasugrel, especially intracranial bleeding, than those without a history of stroke. Triple antiplatelet therapy with aspirin, clopidogrel, and the oral platelet thrombin receptor antagonist vorapaxar was …

Activated platelets in heparinized shed blood: the "second hit" of acute lung injury in trauma/hemorrhagic shock models.

The return of heparinized shed blood (SB) in trauma/hemorrhagic shock (T/HS) models remains controversial because of potential anti-inflammatory properties. Although ubiquitous as an anticoagulant, heparin is ineffective on cellular coagulation as an antithrombotic agent. Therefore, we hypothesized that returning heparinized SB would paradoxically enhance acute lung injury (ALI) after T/HS because of the infusion of activated platelets. Sprague-Dawley rats, anesthetized with pentobarbital, underwent laparotomy and hemorrhage-induced shock (MAP of 30 mmHg × 45 min). Animals were resuscitated with a combination of normal saline and returned SB. Shed blood was collected in either 80 U/kg of heparin, 800 U/kg of heparin, or citrate or diluted 1:8 with normal saline. An additional group of animals were pretreated with a platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist (clopidogrel) before T/HS. Bronchoalveolar lavage, lung myeloperoxidase assays, pulmonary immunofluorescence, and blood smears were conducted. Bronchoalveolar lavage protein increased in animals resuscitated with heparinized SB (T/HS + 80 U/kg Hep 1.62 ± 0.29, T/HS + 800 U/kg Hep 1.30 ± 0.15 vs. T/SS 0.51 ± 0.16 and T/HS Citrate 0.7 ± 0.09) (P < 0.0001). Blood smears and platelet function assays revealed platelet aggregates and increased platelet activation. Animals pretreated with a platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist were protected from postinjury ALI (P < 0.0001). Animals with return of SB had increased pulmonary polymorphonuclear leukocyte sequestration (P < 0.0001). Pulmonary immunofluorescence demonstrated microthrombi only in the T/HS group receiving heparinized SB (P < 0.0001). The return of heparinized SB functions as a "second hit" to enhance ALI, with activated platelets propagating microthrombi and pulmonary polymorphonuclear leukocyte recruitment.

Ex vivo and in vivo effect and the clinical failure of the intravenous platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist cangrelor

Ex vivo and in vivo effect and the clinical failure of the intravenous platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist cangrelor

Platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist pharmacokinetics and pharmaco -dynamics: A foundation for distinguishing mechanisms of bleeding and anticipated risk for platelet-directed therapies

The platelet P2Y12 receptor is involved in all aspects of arterial thrombosis, including adhesion, activation, aggregation, secretion and development of a stable aggregate on which coagulation proteins can assemble and fibrin strands can mesh. Inhibition of the P2Y12 receptor has been shown convincingly to reduce cardiovascular events among patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and in patients undergoing percutaneous intervention (PCI). Current studies are exploring whether there is a threshold of platelet aggregation below which only more bleeding occurs, without a concomitant reduction in clinical events. The following review considers the potential relevance of reversible and irreversible mechanisms of P2Y12 inhibition to bleeding risk, posing the question, "Is it not only how much but how a platelet P2Y12 receptor is inhibited that determines the attributable safety profile?"

Common sequence variations in the P2Y12 and CYP3A5 genes do not explain the variability in the inhibitory effects of clopidogrel therapy

The efficacy of the platelet P2Y12 receptor antagonist clopidogrel, which undergoes cytochrome-mediated metabolism to its active form, shows marked inter-individual variability. We investigated whether polymorphic variations in the P2Y12 gene, which have been linked to platelet aggregation phenotypes, or the cytochrome P450 3A5 gene 6986G > A polymorphism, which largely determines CYP3A5 expression, influence the response to clopidogrel therapy. Fifty-four patients listed for elective percutaneous coronary intervention were studied using ADP-induced optical aggregometry, whole-blood single platelet counting (WBSPC) aggregometry, and flow-cytometric analysis of platelet P-selectin expression and platelet-monocyte conjugate formation. Platelet reactivity was measured at baseline, 4 h post clopidogrel 300 mg, and 10 and 28 days following clopidogrel 75 mg daily. A further 55 patients were studied using ADP-induced WBSPC at baseline and 4 h post clopidogrel 600 mg. Patients were genotyped for P2Y12 haplotype and the CYP3A5 6986G > A single nucleotide polymorphism. Neither genotype was found to significantly influence the inhibition of platelet responses by either clopidogrel regimen. In conclusion, common sequence variations within the P2Y12 and CYP3A5 genes do not contribute any major effect to the inter-patient variability in clopidogrel efficacy.