Why single daily dose of aspirin may not prevent platelet aggregation

The effect of different doses of aspirin on the synergistic activity of sodium arachidonate plus platelet activating factor (paf) ADP or collagen in platelet aggregation was studied in human volunteers. Aggregation studies in platelet rich plasma (PRP) showed that aspirinated platelets, unresponsive to arachidonate, when stirred with threshold concentrations of paf, ADP or collagen, reacted differently according to the dose of aspirin and the time elapsed since ingestion. After a single or daily 50 mg dose for 7-10 days independent of elapsed time until blood withdrawal, a complete synergistic activity was obtained. In PRP samples obtained 24 hours after the last aspirin intake, a complete synergistic aggregation was achieved after a single dose or after 7-10 days of 500 mg aspirin ingestion; synergistic effect did not appear when blood was drawn 2.5 hours after intake. The thromboxane B2 concentrations were very low in all samples after PRP stimulation with sodium arachidonate or paf or both. As rationale is that platelet activation in vivo occurs in response to several stimuli, the therapeutic implications of our results is that aspirin may not prevent the agonist potentiation effect when low dose or daily high dose (500mg) are administrated. This may explain the erratic results of most aspirin trials in which this drug was used to suppress platelet function.