Adenine nucleotides, serotonin, and aggregation properties of platelets of blue foxes (Alopex lagopus) with the Chediak-Higashi syndrome

Bleeding times, concentrations of serotonin in whole blood, and concentrations of adenine nucleotides as well as aggregation properties of platelets were examined in 18 blue foxes with Chediak-Higashi–like syndrome (CHS) and 16 controls. A claw of each ketamine-sedated fox was cut until bleeding started and the bleeding time was recorded as the time from the first to the last drop. The bleeding time was greatly increased in CHS foxes. Platelet counts of CHS foxes were normal, but aggregation induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP), serotonin, collagen, and arachidonate was impaired. Adrenaline and serotonin potentiated the aggregatory effect of ADP on control as well as on CHS platelets. The mean concentration of ADP in CHS platelets was about one-third that in controls, whereas adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was approximately one-half that in controls. Serotonin could not, in most cases, be detected in blood of CHS foxes. These findings suggest that the prolonged bleeding time in the CHS foxes is, at least partly, due to a storage pool deficiency. The drastically reduced, and in some cases absent, aggregation of CHS platelets in response to arachidonate suggests that defective arachidonate metabolism contributes to the impaired hemostasis.