Rapid Change of Platelet Aggregability in Acute Hyperglycemia

Abstract

SummaryWe examined the alteration of platelet aggregability in acute hyperglycemia during 75-gram oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT). Twenty subjects underwent 75-gram OGTT and venous blood samples were obtained before (0 min), 60, 120 and 180 min postload. Platelet aggregability shown as the number of small platelet aggregates was measured with a novel laser-light scattering (LS) method. Platelet aggregability increased in parallel with both glucose and immunoreactive insulin (IRI) levels. The number of mean small aggregates at 60 min (12.30 ± 1.10 × 104) was significantly higher than the one at 0 min (8.32 ± 0.88 × 104, p <0.001), 120 min (10.63 ± 0.98 × 104, p <0.05) and 180 min (8.28 ± 0.84 × 104, p <0.001) (mean ± SEM). Small aggregates correlated positively with plasma glucose levels at 60 min postload (r = 0.67, p = 0.001) while not with IRI. It might be important to suppress transient hyperglycemia for preventing the onset of acute coronary syndromes that could be closely related to platelet hyperaggregability.