Studies on the antithrombotic action of AT1 receptor antagonists

In our previous experiments we showed that the prototype member of the AT1 receptor antagonists (AT1-As) family, losartan, prevented the development of arterial and venous thrombosis in rats. Recent studies have demonstrated that apart from blocking AT1 receptor, losartan is also a competitive antagonist to thromboxane A2/prostaglandin H2 receptor (TP receptor). Thus, we decided to assess if this feature could contribute to the antithrombotic action of losartan.

We compared the influence losartan, its active metabolite EXP3174 and valsartan on rat platelet adhesion to fibrillar collagen and platelet aggregation in response to thromboxane A2 analogue, U46619. We also assessed the efficacy of these drugs in platelet-dependent pulmonary thrombosis in mice as well as preventive and therapeutic models of venous thrombosis in rats.

All the three compounds, given in a single dose, inhibited rat platelet adhesion to fibrillar collagen and platelet aggregation induced with U46619 in vitro and ex vivo, with the action of losartan being much more pronounced than that of EXP3174 or valsartan. Losartan also more effectively protected mice from death in response to the intravenous injection of collagen / epinephrine and it was the only compound which reduced mice mortality after the intravenous injection of U46619. In contrast, all the three AT1 receptor antagonists exerted a similar thrombolytic action and comparably decreased the thrombus weight in the therapeutic and preventive model of venous thrombosis, although in the latter case a high dose of losartan was slightly more effective than a corresponding dose of EXP3174 and valsartan.

Since losartan is endowed with a relatively low affinity towards the AT1 receptor, we conclude that its superiority over EXP 3174 and valsartan in inhibiting thrombocyte function and platelet-dependent thrombosis could result from its stronger action on the TP receptor. This feature seems to be less important in the thrombolytic effect of AT1-As and in the inhibition of the venous thrombosis development, in which platelets play only a minor role.