The platelet activating factor (PAF), a platelet aggregation inducer, is considered to activate platelets not through the mediation of ADP or thromboxane, but by a new pathway. The author tested the platelet aggregation using PAF and otherinducers in 50 healthy individuals and 73 diabetic patients, and compared the test results. Diabetic patients were divided into 2 groups, one with 51 patients exhibiting no variation in blood glucose level for 6 months (stabilized blood glucose group) and the other with 22 patients from whom blood was collected around 2 weeks after the initiation of blood sugar control (reduced blood glucose group). Aggregation inducers used were 0.5μg/ml PAF, 3μM ADP. 10μg/ml collagen and 9.3μg/ml epinephrine.
In healthy individuals, PAF-induced aggregation was 56.4±11.8%. Though there was no significant difference between sexes or among age groups, PAF-induced aggregation tended to be higher for people in their 20s or 30s than for those in their 60s. A positive correlation existed between PAF-induced aggregation and ADP-induced aggregation or collagen-induced aggregation.
In diabetic patients, PAF-induced aggregation was 37.8±26.1%, significantly lowered as compared with that in healthy individuals. A positive correlation existed between PAF-induced aggregation and ADP-induced aggregation or collagen-induced aggregation, or epinephrine-induced aggregation. Between the stabilized blood glucose group and reduced blood glucose group, a significant difference was detected in PAF-induced aggregation at the 0.1% significance level, with on aggregation rate of 30.1±22.1% for the former and 55.8±26.3% for the latter. In the stabilized blood glucose group, no significant difference was detected between patients with good blood glucose level and those with high blood glucose level.In the reduced blood glucose group, PAF-induced aggregation was positively correlated with platelet count, and negatively correlated with blood viscosity.
PAF-induced aggregation was closely correlated with the aggregation induced by other substances. However, in diabetic patients, PAF-induced aggregation alone was significantly lowered as compared with that in healthy individuals, and it was significantly heightened in patients examined around 2 weeks after the initiation of blood sugar control as compared with that in patients with blood glucose stabilized for over 6 months.