Flow cytometry reveals activated GP IIb-IIIa complexes on platelets from patients undergoing thrombolytic therapy after acute myocardial infarction.

We report the detection of activated GP IIb-IIIa complexes on platelets of patients undergoing thrombolytic therapy after acute myocardial infarction. Protocols were established for the monoclonal antibodies (mAbs): VH10, anti-P-selectin, a marker of platelet secretion; 9F9 and F26, two anti-RIBS (receptor-induced binding sites) mAbs specific for fibrinogen (Fg) bound to the GP IIb-IIIa receptor. Of ten patients studied: two were treated with streptokinase, four with APSAC (anisoylated plasminogen-streptokinase activator complex), and three with rt-PA. Platelets were tested on at least five occasions in the week following therapy. The percentage of platelets positive with 9F9 was often high, and reached a maximum within three days. By this time, plasma Fg levels, which fell during fibrinolysis, had begun to return to normal. Levels of activated platelets had fallen to baseline after 7 days. PAC-1, a mAb which binds directly to the activated GP IIb-IIIa complex, confirmed the results with 9F9, but F26 was a less sensitive probe. Binding of the anti-P-selectin mAb (VH10) was low, showing that little secretion had occurred. A concentration-dependent inhibition of 9F9 binding by RGDW peptide, a competitive inhibitor for Fg on GP IIb-IIIa, confirmed that Fg (or epitope-containing degradation products) were being located by the antibody. The activation of GP IIb-IIIa occurred despite the patients receiving aspirin and heparin. Thus platelets of some fibrinolytic patients have an increased tendency for surface activation within the first 72 h after treatment, a finding which would be compatible with an increased thrombotic tendency.