Effect of dipyridamole and prostacyclin on rabbit platelet adherence in vitro and in vivo.

The adherence of 51Cr-labeled platelets to the subendothelium of rabbit aortas was inhibited in vitro and in vivo by high concentrations of dipyridamole (100 microM in vitro, 2.5 or 12.5 mg/kg in vivo). Dipyridamole (100 microM) inhibited release of 14C-serotonin from platelets that adhered to the subendothelium or to a collagen-coated glass surface; lower concentrations of dipyridamole had only a slight inhibitory effect. Scanning electron microscopy showed that many of the platelets that adhered to the subendothelium were rounded, with few pseudopodia. The combination of dipyridamole with PGI2 was no more inhibitory of platelet adherence than either agent alone; however, this combination of inhibitors exerted synergistic inhibitory effects on aggregation and release of 14C-serotonin from platelets aggregated by collagen. The effects of dipyridamole on platelet adherence are a consequence of the action of dipyridamole alone and do not appear to result from its interaction with PGI2 formed by injured vessels in vivo, since the inhibitory effect is not influenced by aspirin inhibition of PGI2 formation, either at the shear rates in the in vitro studies or under the shear conditions found in rabbit aortas in vivo.