CHAPTER 40 – Antimicrobial Host Defense

Platelets have long been recognized for their role in maintaining hemostasis and contributing to wound healing. Yet platelets have historically been underappreciated for their multiple and integral functions in antimicrobial host defense. Structural and functional features continue to reinforce the concept that platelets have explicit functions in antimicrobial host defense. Platelets express a diverse array of constitutive and inducible membrane receptors. Thus, platelets have key attributes of sentinel cells that are highly sensitive and responsive to a broad spectrum of agonists associated with microbial contamination, infection, or tissue inflammation. Upon activation, platelets transform from quiescent discoid forms to amoeboid cells that recognize and adhere to microbial pathogens or ligands displayed by tissues injured by trauma or infection.