Study of platelet aggregation in acute coronary syndrome with special reference to metabolic syndrome

BACKGROUND/CONTEXT: Antiplatelet drug resistance increases the risk of adverse events like stent thrombosis in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a prothrombotic state and presence of MS further increases the risk of antiplatelet drug resistance. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: We studied platelet aggregation characteristics in patients of ACS for aspirin or clopidogrel resistance. We studied the relation of drug resistance with blood markers like high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). We also studied for any relation of drug resistance with presence of MS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied platelet aggregation characteristics by optical aggregometry using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) of patients. Collagen (2 μg/mL) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP; 10 μmol) were used. Greater than 50% aggregation in PRP of patients was taken as an evidence of drug resistance. Suitable blood tests were done including newer risk markers like hsCRP, apolipoprotein B, and fibrinogen. STATISTICAL TEST: Statistical tests included Student's t-test and Kendall's rank correlation coefficient. RESULTS: We had a total of 94 patients of ACS with 47 (50%) having MS. MS patients showed higher blood levels of hsCRP and fibrinogen. Twenty-eight (59.5%) patients with MS showed antiplatelet drug resistance compared to 12 patients without MS. Serum fibrinogen showed strongest correlation with drug resistance. HsCRP levels showed correlation with aspirin resistance (r = 0.53) only in the MS group. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We found significantly high prevalence of antiplatelet drug resistance. Aspirin and clopidogrel resistance was comparable. MS was a significant risk factor for drug resistance. The prothrombotic and proinflammatory markers showed strong correlation with drug resistance. A larger randomized trial is needed to better characterize this clinical problem.