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Biomedical subjects

M A Packham

Publications and source records attributed to M A Packham.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

Labeling of the releasable adenine nucleotides of washed human platelets.

In rabbit platelets, the metabolically active ATP pool equilibrates with the releasable ATP pool within 1 day. The studies showing this have now been extended to human platelets. Human platelets labeled with 14C-adenosine or 14C-adenine were incubated for up to 10 hr in vitro at 37 degrees C. After 10 hr, about 12% of the total platelet 14C-ATP and 14C-ADP had become releasable with thrombin (4.2 units/ml). Lysis of platelets did not occur, since less than 1% of the platelet-bound 51Cr from platelets labeled with this radioisotope appeared in the ambient fluid upon thrombin treatment. The 14C-ATP/14C-ADP ratio of the released adenine nucleotides (7.6) was similar to the 14C-ATP/14C-ADP ratio of the nonreleasable adenine nucleotides (7.1) 2 hr after the labeling with 14C-adenosine. However, upon prolonged incubation (10 hr) in vitro, the 14C-ATP/14C-ADP ratio of the releasable adenine nucleotides decreased to 2.7. The adenylate energy charge and the 14C-ATP/14C-ADP ratio of the metabolic adenine nucleotide pool did not change significantly during the time of observation. The 14C-ATP content of the platelets decreased by less than 1% hr of incubation at 37 degrees C. These observations are interpreted to mean that the 14C is transferred from the metabolically active, nonreleasable adenine nucleotide pool of human platelets into the releasable adenine nucleotide pool as ATP and is partially hydrolyzed there to yield ADP. The transfer of ATP across the storage organelle membrane of platelets may be similar to transport processes in the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and may represent a general phenomenon in cells that possess storage organelles containing adenine nucleotides.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Platelets, thrombosis and atherosclerosis.

The interaction of platelets with the vessel wall can contribute to the early stages in the development of atherosclerosis through effects on smooth muscle cell proliferation, endothelial permeability, and possibly by causing vessel wall injury. Platelets are involved in the development of thrombi in response to vessel injury, and the repeated formation of platelet emboli and platelet-fibrin emboli from the mural thrombi may be one of the factors that cause clinical complications of atherosclerosis. Drugs which inhibit platelet function, particularly those that prolong shortened platelet survival (sulfinpyrazone and dipyridamole) may prove to be important in inhibiting the response of blood to vessel injury and thereby modifying the extent of atherosclerosis and its complications.

Arteries↗

Reactions of polylysine with human platelets in plasma and in suspensions of washed platelets.

The effects of polylysine on human platelets have been examined in citrated platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and in suspensions of washed platelets in various media. In PRP, polylysine caused aggregation after a lag phase. Heparin inhibited this completely. At certain concentrations of polylysine, two phases of aggregation occurred, the second being associated with release of 14C-serotonin from prelabelled platelets; this phase was inhibitable with prostaglandin E1, acetylsalicylic acid, sulphinpyrazone, adenosine, apyrase, or creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase. Polylysine-induced release also occurred in PRP with EDTA or hirudin as anticoagulant. In suspensions of washed platelets in Tyrode solution containing 0.35% or 4% albumin, or 1% gelatin, polylysine caused immediate platelet-to-platelet adherence and very little release of 14C-serotonin or platelet lysis. Heparin inhibited aggregation, but acetylsalicylic acid, prostaglandin E1, adenosine, apyrase, creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase or EDTA did not. In a modified Tyrode-albumin medium containing 1 mM magnesium but no calcium, polylysine-induced aggregation was associated with the release of 14C-serotonin which could be inhibited by acetylsalicylic acid or indomethacin; this is similar to the effect of ADP in this medium. In Tyrode solution without albumin or gelatin, polylysine-induced platelet aggregation was associated with release of a large percentage of 14C-serotonin, together with as much as 18% lysis; indomethacin inhibited this release reaction.

Albumins↗

Sodium arachidonate can induce platelet shape change and aggregation which are independent of the release reaction.

Sodium arachidonate causes shape change and aggregation of rabbit or human platelets that have been washed and then degranulated by treatment with thrombin. Since these platelets do not contain releasable adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and the aggregation is not inhibited by the creatine phosphate-creatine phosphokinase system, sodium arachidonate must be able to cause aggregation that is independent of the release of ADP. Since aggregation of these platelets induced by sodium arachidonate is inhibited by acetylsalicylic acid or indomethacin, it seems likely that products (such as prostaglandin G2) formed from sodium arachidonate are responsible for aggregation. Thus, sodium arachidonate-induced shape change and aggregation of platelets may be caused (i) by the release of ADP by products of sodium arachidonate metabolism and (ii) directly by the products of sodium arachidonate metabolism, independently of released ADP.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

In vitro and in vivo functions of thrombin-treated platelets.

Thrombin-induced platelet aggregation has been generally believed to be irreversible. However, thrombin-induced aggregation of washed platelets is reversible if fibrin formation is prevented or the fibrin which binds the platelets together is removed from the platelet aggregates. After treatment with high concentrations of thrombin (0.5 units/ml) single platelets can be recovered that have lost practically all of their releasable serotonin and adenine nucleotides. These platelets are able to aggregate upon addition of low concentrations of ADP in the presence of fibrinogen. They aggregate in response to the ionophore A23, 187 in the absence of added fibrinogen, whereas sodium arachidonate-induced aggregation requires added fibrinogen. Thrombin-treated platelets change their shape in response to collagen in the absence of fibrinogen, and will aggregate upon the addition of collagen providing fibrinogen is present. This response to collagen can be blocked with aspirin but not with a mixture of creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase. Upon a second exposure to thrombin, thrombin-pretreated platelets do not change their shape and do not undergo aggregation. Thrombin-pretreated platelets will not retract a thrombin-induced fibrin clot unless ADP, sodium arachidonate, the ionophore A23, 187 or collagen are added together with thrombin. The ability of thrombin-treated platelets to adhere to the exposed subendothelial surface of the rabbit aorta is reduced, compared with untreated control platelets. The thrombin-treated platelets shorten the bleeding time of thrombocytopenic rabbits. However, the are not as effective in shortening the bleeding time as normal control platelets. When injected into rabbits with a normal platelet count, the thrombin-treated platelets that circulate after infusion survive for the same length of time as untreated control platelets. These findings indicate that thrombin-induced platelet aggregation with extensive release of granule constituents is not irreversible and that thrombin treatment does not cause irreversible damage of all platelets that would lead to their immediate elimination from the circulation. Furthermore, these platelets can still be haemostatically effective. It is conceivable that platelets that have lost their amine storage granule contents during a release reaction in vivo, such as may occur in certain cases of intravascular coagulation and repeated episodes of thrombosis, may be found in the circulation of man.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Effects of sodium periodate on platelet functions.

Removal of N-acetylneuraminic acid from the platelet surface causes rapid removal of platelets from the circulation but causes little change in other platelet functions. We have now investigated the effects of sodium periodate which is thought to oxidize the sialic acid of glycoproteins on cell surfaces and has been shown to affect the functions of other cells. NaIO4 (1 to 10 mm) caused aggregation of stirred suspensions of washed platelets from rabbits. Calcium was required in the suspending medium for NaIO4-induced aggregation. Aggregation was not accompanied by the release of amine storage granule contents nor by cell lysis. Aggregation induced by NaIO4 was not inhibited by creatine phosphate-creatine phosphokinase, by platelet inhibitors that raise platelet cyclic AMP levels such as prostaglandin E1 or methylxanthines, by agents that modify platelet surface--SH groups (N-ethylmaleimide, p-chloromercuribenzene sulfonate), nor by cytochalasin B and/or colchicine which interfere with platelet contractile processes. Drugs such as acetylsalicyclic acid, penicillin G, or cephalothin had no effect on NaIO4-induced aggregation. NaIO4-induced aggregation was practically independent of platelet metabolism since it was not affected by low temperatures and was only slightly inhibited by a combination of antimycin and iodoacetate. Periodate treatment enhanced CO2 production by platelets. When rabbit platelets were pretreated, without stirring, with NaIO4 (0.01 to 1 mm), they did not aggregate. They retained their disc shape and granule contents. However, this pretreatment with NaIO4 inhibited aggregation induced by ADP and inhibited both aggregation and release induced by collagen, thrombin, arachidonic acid, and the ionophore A23,187. The extent of inhibition corresponded to the concentration of NaIO4 used to pretreat the platelets. In contrast, concanavalin A-induced aggregation was unchanged by NaIO4 pretreatment. When NaIO4 oxidation was followed by sodium borohydride (NaBH4) reduction, the effects caused by NaIO4 pretreatment on ADP-induced aggregation and collagen- or thrombin-induced aggregation and release were partially reversed. Pretreatment with NaIO4 also diminished the rate of serotonin uptake and decreased the ability of platelets to adhere to collagen-coated surfaces or to the subendothelial structures of the rabbit aorta. Platelets which had been treated with NaIO4 and then reinfused into rabbits did not survive, and in this way were similar to platelets from which surface sialic acid had been removed by neuraminidase treatment. Since NaIO4 has been shown to oxidize sialic acid on red cell membranes, it seems probably that alteration of surface sialic acid resulted in recognition of the periodate-treated platelets as "foreign" by the reticuloendothelial system. When NaIO4 oxidation was followed by NaBH4 reduction, platelet survival returned toward normal values.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Loss of sulfated proteoglycan from the surface of rabbit platelets during adenosine 5'-diphosphate-induced aggregation.

Rabbit platelets were labeled in vivo by intravenous injection of 35SO4=60 hours before the animals were exsanguinated. The labeled platelets were washed and resuspended in Tyrode's solution containing 0.35 per cent albumin. The aggregated normally upon the addition of ADP and during aggregation 14.0 +/- 2.7 per cent (mean +/- standard deviation) of the labeled material was lost into the suspending medium. The extent of loss was dependent on ADP concentration and was inhibited by inhibitors of ADP-induced aggregation (AMP, ATP, adenosine, prostaglandin E1, parachloromercuribenzensulfonate and lack of calcium). Since neither release of granule contents nor lysis occurs when rabbit platelets are aggregated by ADP, it was concluded that the labeled material that was lost had been part of the surface coat of the platelets. The labeled material has been identified in other studies as a proteoglycan in which the mucopolysaccharide is principally chondroitin sulfate A. Loss of this material did not make the platelets unresponsive to ADP. The platelets did not reincorporate labeled proteoglycan from plasma. Thrombin caused the release of 50 to 80 per cent of the total platelet-labeled material, presumably from both the granules and the surface. The functional significance of the loss of surface proteoglycan during platelet aggregation is unknown.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

The role of blood and platelets in atherosclerosis and the complications of atherosclerosis.

There appear to be at least three ways in which the blood, and particularly the platelets, may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and its complications: 1. In the mechanism causing endothelial injury and the response of the smooth muscle cells to vessel injury. 2. Through the formation of persistent mural thrombi which are organized into intimal thickenings. 3. Through the formation of thrombi in association with advanced atherosclerosis that may be either (a) mural thrombi which fragment and shower the distal circulation with platelet emboli or (b) occlusive thrombi.

Arteriosclerosis↗