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Association between arterial stiffness and platelet activation

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 19, pages 527–533 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

Increased arterial stiffness is strongly associated with atherosclerosis, while platelet activation is an important trigger of thrombotic events in patients with atherosclerosis. However, little is known about the effect of arterial stiffness on platelet activation. We therefore investigated the association between arterial stiffness and platelet activation in 38 normal volunteers (20 men and 18 women) aged 23–77 years (mean=49±15 years). Arterial stiffness was assessed by measuring brachial–ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) and heart–brachial PWV (hb-PWV). Flow cytometric analyses were performed to evaluate platelet activation by measuring surface expression of P-selectin and platelet–neutrophil complexes (PNC) before and after activation by ADP. We also calculated the difference between basal and stimulated states of P-selectin and PNC to assess platelet activation reserve. PWVs were significantly correlated with age and BP (r=0.60–0.81). For platelet activation and activation reserve, correlations with age were less strong but remained significant (r=0.36–0.61), with the exception of P-selectin (not significant, NS), and correlations with SBP were similar (r=0.35–0.53). A significant correlation was found between PWVs and platelet activation (r=0.43–0.74). Multiple regression analysis demonstrated significant correlations between platelet activation and reserve and PWVs (coefficient=2.17–6.59), when both age and BP were adjusted for simultaneously. In conclusion, platelet activation was associated with arterial stiffness, suggesting that arterial stiffness may play an important role in thrombotic events.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tadashi Ueta for technical assistance and Misa Nakagawa for her assistance throughout the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Laboratory, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan

    F Yamasaki & T Sugiura

  2. Department of Medicine and Geriatrics, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan

    T Furuno, K Sato, M Nishinaga & Y Doi

  3. Department of Cardiovascular Control, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku, Kochi, Japan

    D Zhang & T Sato

Authors
  1. F Yamasaki
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  2. T Furuno
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  3. K Sato
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  4. D Zhang
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  5. M Nishinaga
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  6. T Sato
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  7. Y Doi
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  8. T Sugiura
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to F Yamasaki.

Additional information

This research was supported in part by a grant from the President Research Fund of Kochi Medical School Hospital and the Japan Arteriosclerosis Prevention Fund.

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Yamasaki, F., Furuno, T., Sato, K. et al. Association between arterial stiffness and platelet activation. J Hum Hypertens 19, 527–533 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jhh.1001861

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