Antiplatelet Effects of the Addition of Acetylsalicylic Acid 40 Mg Daily to Ticlopidine in Human Healthy Volunteers

Clinical studies have shown that acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) or ticlopidine (T) bring a partial clinical benefit in a subset of patients threatened by thrombosis on atherosclerotic plaques. Acetylsalicylic acid and T have different impacts on platelet function and the combination of the drugs seems logical to achieve a greater antiplatelet effect. Healthy volunteers were randomly allocated to any of the three treatment groups: T 250-placebo; T 250-T 250; placebo-placebo (treatment was administered in a double blind manner). Acetylsalicylic acid 40 mg was openly administered once a day to the subjects of the three groups after the first week of treatment. Simplate I bleeding time and platelet aggregation testing were performed before treatment and at the end of the two treatment periods. We confirmed that T alone prolongs bleeding time and impairs, in a dose-dependent manner, ADP-induced aggregation; platelet responses that depend on released ADP were also affected. Inhibition of thromboxane-dependent aggre...