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We studied the effect of the methanol extract of garlic bulbs (EOG) and of three pure components isolated from it (F1, F2, F3), on human platelet aggregation induced by ADP, epinephrine, collagen, thrombin, arachidonate, PAF, and the ionophore A-23187. Incubation of PRP with EOG, either in methanol or in homologous PPP, inhibits platelet aggregation induced by all of the above mentioned agonists. F1, F2, and F3 also inhibit platelet aggregation, however, F3 was about four times more potent. Addition of EOG or F3 to platelets that have already been irreversibly aggregated by 10 microM ADP, induces rapid deaggregation. Inhibition of aggregation was still present after three hours. The inhibitory effect persisted even after the treated platelets were Gel-Filtered (GFP) or separated from plasma through a metrizamide gradient and resuspended in new homologous PPP. Thrombin-induced release of ATP from GFP was inhibited by 75-80% after EOG or F3 treatment. Incorporation of [3-H]-arachidonate by intact platelets was decreased by 50-60% in treated platelets. However, platelets incubated with the inhibitors after incorporation of radiolabeled arachidonate, although did not aggregate, produced, after thrombin activation similar amounts of radiolabeled TXB2 and lipoxygenase products as the controls. Electron microscopy of inhibited platelets, in the presence of thrombin, showed no degranulation but an increase of spherical forms. Our results suggest that the effects described might be mediate by a perturbation of the physicochemical properties of the plasma membrane rather than by affecting arachidonate or calcium metabolism in the cells. Chemical structures of F1, F2 and F3 have been provisionally assigned: F1 is diallytrisulfide, F2 is 2-vinyl-1,3-dithiene, and F3 is most probably allyl 1,5-hexadienyltrisulfide.

Studies on a purified phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from human platelets show that the enzyme, which is copurified with the plasma membrane fraction, has a MW of approximately 50 K Dalton, requires Ca++, and has a pH optimum of 9.4. Under optimal conditions, PLA2 activity corresponds to at least 13 nmol/min/10(9) platelets. Unsaturated PL are preferred substrates and the enzyme is considerably more active on the aggregated form of the substrate than on the monomers. The specific activity is markedly affected by the quality of the interface, showing variations of more than 10-fold between different substrate forms. In the absence of detergents, a 4-fold increase in rate is observed when both products are present. Maximal rates are obtained at 20 mole percent of products to substrate. 1,2-Diglyceride and phosphatidic acid stimulate the hydrolysis of PC by the purified enzyme, however, in these forms of the substrate, neither of them are hydrolyzed. Activation of this enzyme by some intermediate of the phospholipase C pathway might play a role in the stimulus-linked release of platelet arachidonic acid.

The effect of phospho-glycoprotein (HMW-GP), obtained from human platelet plasma membranes, on the aggregation and secretion of human platelets was studied. Incubation of PRP with 4 to 16 micrograms/ml of HMW-GP results in inhibition of ADP-, Epinephrine-, Collagen-, and Thrombin-induced platelet aggregation. The effect is mainly reflected on the secondary wave of aggregation. The inhibitory effect is partially overcome by higher concentrations of inducers, however, even under these conditions, a clear tendency towards disaggregation is observed. 5HT release (Col-induced) is strongly decreased from 50% to 4.5. The inhibitory effect on Thrombin-induced aggregation is markedly dependent on external calcium, being maximal at 5 mM calcium. The HMW-GP does not bind ADP or Thrombin. Membrane conformation is markedly affected, as evidenced by the effect of HMW-GP on the iodination of surface polypeptides of intact platelets. It is suggested that interaction of HMW-GP with the platelet membrane blocks the signal(s) transmission that links stimulus to activation. The inhibition observed might just represent an experimental amplification of the endogenous modulatory function that has been proposed for this high molecular weight phosphoglycoprotein.

Functional and biochemical studies of platelets from human Chédiak-Higashi syndrome (CHS) are scarce and/or incomplete. In the present report, the aggregation response to a variety of inducers of platelet aggregation, the content of the dense granule constituents ATP, ADP, serotonin and calcium, the secretion of ATP, ADP, and calcium induced by thrombin, the total content of magnesium, the incorporation of 14C-adenine in the cytoplasmic pool of adenine nucleotides, as well as the content of intracellular cyclic-AMP, have been quantitated in six patients with CHS. Furthermore, data is presented on the kinetics of uptake of radiolabelled serotonin and its storage in human CHS platelets. An abnormal aggregation behaviour was found in all patients. However, the response of CHS platelets to the different inducers studied did not show a uniform pattern. The total content and the maximal amounts of the dense granule constituents secretable by thrombin were greatly decreased in all six patients. Total magnesium content was similar to that of normal platelets. The ATP/ADP ratio was higher than in controls. Uptake of radiolabelled serotonin by CHS platelets closely followed the uptake by normal platelets; during the first 2-3 min, however, incorporation of the amine by CHS platelets came rapidly to a plateau which contrasts with the steady, linear increase in uptake found in controls. CHS platelets loaded with radiolabelled serotonin and gel-filtered, showed a spontaneous release of radioactivity not observed in normal platelets under the same conditions. The cyclic-AMP content of CHS platelets was similar to that of normals. In contrast to platelets from patients with storage pool disease, the secretable calcium from CHS platelets represents a 67% of total platelet calcium (61% in normals), suggesting that the absolute values for the non-secretable portion in CHS platelets must be very low. The results reported confirm the existence of a true storage pool deficiency of the dense granule constituents as a common defect in CHS platelets. The variety of responses among patients, to the different aggregatory stimuli studied, can not be solely ascribed to the storage pool deficiency described.