Association between High On-Aspirin Platelet Reactivity and Reduced Superoxide Dismutase Activity in Patients Affected by Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus or Primary Hypercholesterolemia

• Main Authors: Cristina Barale, Franco Cavalot, Chiara Frascaroli, Katia Bonomo, Alessandro Morotti, Angelo Guerrasio, Isabella Russo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: platelets; oxidative stress; superoxide dismutase; aspirin; thromboxane; platelet function analyzer-100
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/14/4983
• ISSN: 1661-6596; 1422-0067

Platelet hyperactivation is involved in the established prothrombotic condition of metabolic diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and familial hypercholesterolemia (HC), justifying the therapy with aspirin, a suppressor of thromboxane synthesis through the irreversible inhibition of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), to prevent cardiovascular diseases. However, some patients on aspirin show a higher than expected platelet reactivity due, at least in part, to a pro-oxidant milieu. The aim of this study was to investigate platelet reactivity in T2DM (<i>n</i> = 103) or HC (<i>n</i> = 61) patients (aspirin, 100 mg/day) and its correlation with biomarkers of redox function including the superoxide anion scavenger superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the in vivo marker of oxidative stress urinary 8-iso-prostaglandin F_2α. As results, in T2DM and HC subjects the prevalence of high on-aspirin platelet reactivity was comparable when both non-COX-1-dependent and COX-1-dependent assays were performed, and platelet reactivity is associated with a lower SOD activity that in a stepwise linear regression appears as the only predictor of platelet reactivity. To conclude, in T2DM and HC, similarly, the impairment of redox equilibrium associated with a decrease of SOD activity could contribute to a suboptimal response to aspirin.