Aspirin resistance in patients with type II diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND: Diabetic patients exhibit platelet hyperreactivity, which renders them resistant to antithrombotic treatments. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and predictors of aspirin resistance in diabetic patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 93 diabetic and 37 non-diabetic participants were included into the study. Aspirin resistance was measured with a whole-blood desktop platelet function analyzer (PFA-100) with an epinephrine agonist. RESULTS: Altogether 41.9% patients with DM were aspirin non-responders. Aspirin resistance was observed in 43.2% of non-diabetic patients (p = 0.89). Presence of diabetes mellitus had no effect on aspirin response (RR 0.95 (95% CI 0.44–2.05), p = 0.89) in the whole study population. Hypercholesterolemia was the only predictor of aspirin resistance in multivariate analysis in diabetic patients (RR 3.09 (95% CI 1.17–8.16), p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of aspirin resistance is comparable in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Hypercholesterolemia is the only independent predictor of aspirin resistance in diabetic patients.