Thrombin-induced Hyperactivity of Platelets of Young Stroke Patients

Thrombin-induced Hyperactivity of Platelets of Young Stroke Patients.Vanschoonbeek K, Feijge MA, Keuren JF, Coenraad Hemker H, Lodder JJ, Hamulyak K, Van Pampus EC, Heemskerk JW.Dept. of Biochemistry, CARIM, University of Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.Activated platelets are implicated in the development of premature arterial vascular diseases, in particular ischemic stroke. Since elevated cytosolic [Ca(2+)](i) is an integrative marker of platelet activation, we determined the generation of Ca(2+) signal in stimulated platelets from 26 young patients recuperating from stroke, 20 patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease, and 56 healthy volunteers. Even in the presence of aspirin, the platelets from various individuals showed highly different thrombin-induced Ca(2+) responses. On average, the thrombin-induced Ca(2+) response was increased for platelets from either patient group in comparison to the controls (P