Effects of very low versus standard dose acetyl salicylic acid, dipyridamole and sulfinpyrazone on platelet function and thromboxane formation in man.

The effects of three conventional antiplatelet regimes, dipyridamole 3 X 75 mg/day (D), sulfinpyrazone 4 X 200 mg/day (S), acetylsalicylic acid 3 X 330 mg/day combined with dipyridamole 3 X 75 mg/day (ASA + D), and very low dose acetylsalicylic acid 100 mg/day (ASA) on platelet function were studied in man following 4 days of treatment. D and S slightly increased mean minimal ADP concentration for irreversible aggregation (n.s.), S reduced aggregation and thromboxane (TXB2) formation on low dose collagen (2P less than or equal to 0.05), ASA and ASA + D increased platelet count (2P less than or equal to 0.05), increased bleeding time (n.s. for ASA, 2P less than or equal to 0.05 for ASA + D), abolished irreversible aggregation on ADP, suppressed TXB2 formation on all (2P less than or equal to 0.001) and aggregation on lower concentrations of collagen (2P less than or equal to 0.01) and abolished aggregation and TXB2 formation on arachidonic acid (2P less than or equal to 0.001). Very low dose ASA suppresses platelet aggregation and TXB2 formation on several stimuli of possible physiologic significance. In the light of a recently proposed critical balance of vascular antiaggregatory prostacyclin and platelet proaggregatory TXA2 very low dose ASA might offer advantages over conventional dosage of ASA and should be evaluated in thromboembolic disorders.