Influence of Aspirin on Plasma Levels of Lysophosphatidic Acid in Patients with Ischemic Cerebrovascular Diseases

Objective: To observe whether plasma levels of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) can be decreased in patients with cerebrovascular diseases after the treatment with aspirin. Methods: A total of 1,400 patients were recruited. Among them, 803 patients were diagnosed as probable ischemic stroke, and 343 patients were diagnosed as ischemic stroke. Thirty-four health volunteers were used as control subjects. The levels of LPA were measured by chromatography with the combination of inorganic phosphorus quantitative method. Results: The levels of LPA in the ischemic cerebrovascular group (3.11±1.55 μmol/L) were significantly higher than those in the control group (1.77±1.04 μmol/L) (P<0.001). Taking aspirin (80 mg, qd) for one month significantly decreased the levels of LPA. After stopping aspirin for one month, the level of LPA re-elevated (3.90±1.09 μmol/L), was higher than that during administration of aspirin (1.93±0.85 μmol/L(P<0.001). Conclusions: There are close correlations between the increased levels of LPA and the platelet activation. Aspirin decreases the level of plasma LPA; this may be one of the mechanisms of aspirin in prevention against ischemic stroke. Key words: lysophosphatidic acid; ischemic cerebrovascular diseases; aspirin; platelet activation