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Platelets as central mediators of systemic inflammatory responses

Tammy L Smith1, Andrew S Weyrich

  • 1Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.

Thrombosis Research
|November 16, 2010
PubMed

Systemic inflammatory responses are associated with high morbidity and mortality and represent a diverse and clinically challenging group of diseases. Platelets are increasingly linked to inflammation, in addition to their well-known roles in hemostasis and thrombosis. There is agreement that traditional functions of platelets, including adherence, aggregation, and secretion of preformed mediators, contribute to systemic inflammatory responses. However, emerging evidence indicates that platelets function in non-traditional ways. In this review, we focus on new functions of platelets that may be involved in the host response to infection.

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