Cardiopulmonary bypass induces leukocyte-platelet adhesion

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has been demonstrated to activate platelets, producing an increased number of circulating platelets that have undergone alpha-granule release and express granule membrane protein-140 (GMP-140) on their surface. In vitro, GMP-140 mediates activated platelet adhesion to neutrophils (PMN) and monocytes, causing the formation of leukocyte-platelet conjugates. Using a newly developed assay that measures the percentage of circulating leukocyte-platelet conjugates in whole blood, we studied 17 patients undergoing CPB and have determined that (1) monocyte-platelet conjugates increased significantly during CPB, from 18% +/- 1.5% to 44% +/- 4.5% (mean +/- SEM) by the end of CPB, while PMN-platelet conjugates increased only slightly and lymphocyte-platelet conjugates decreased; (2) the time course of the increase in monocyte- and PMN-platelet conjugates paralleled that of the increase in circulating activated platelets, as determined by the presence of surface GMP-140; and (3) monocyte activation, as assessed by increased surface expression of CD11b, showed a gradual increase similar to the increase in monocyte-platelet conjugates, while PMN surface CD11b peaked immediately after the start of CPB. We conclude that CPB, through increased platelet GMP-140 expression, causes formation of monocyte-platelet, and to a lesser extent, PMN-platelet conjugates. The activation of monocytes and PMN on CPB, as evidenced by CD11b expression, occurs with differing time courses.