The primary wave of epinephrine-induced platelet aggregation represents alpha 2-adrenoceptor status

We examined relationships between epinephrine-induced slope of primary wave of aggregation and the alpha₂-adrenoceptor status on platelets. A concentration (10^-9 to 10^-6 )-dependent increase in slope of primary wave with EC50 of epinephrine at 4.5 ± 0.4 × 10^-7 was observed. In studies on epinephrine binding to alpha₂adrenoceptors in competition with ³H-yohimbine to platelets, (IC₅₀) of epinephrine was 4.8 ± 3.4 x 10^-7 M. There was a significant (P<0.02) correlation between EC₅₀ of epinephrine to evoke biological response and IC₅₀ of epinephrine to bind to alpha₂-adrenoceptors (r-0.75). There was no relationship between number of receptor sites or dissociation constant of ³H-yohimbine binding and primary wave of platelet aggregation. These data show that the slope of primary wave in response to epinephrine reflects alpha₂-adrenoceptor binding of the agonist.