Effects of acetylsalicylic acid on platelet aggregation before and during increase in dietary eicosapentaenoic acid.

The effect of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on platelet aggregation before and during a fish diet, already known to decrease the aggregability of platelets and to prolong the bleeding time, was studied in 10 healthy men. Two doses (3.5 and 10 mg/kg body weight) of ASA were given. Both doses equally decreased platelet aggregation to collagen and adenosine diphosphate (ADP). ASA, taken before the diet, diminished platelet aggregability to ADP by as much as did the diet alone. When ASA was administered during the diet, the effect on platelet aggregability to ADP was additive. Aggregation to collagen also decreased to the same extent as during the baseline period. The results, in conjunction with our earlier ones, indicate that the mechanism by which a fish diet delays primary haemostasis is different from the apparently similar effect of ASA. This raises the possibility of augmenting any antithrombotic effect of ASA by dietary means.