Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists

Karen M Hook1, Joel S Bennett

  • 1The Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT, USA. khook@uchc.edu

Mortality from ischemic cardiac disease in adults has been dramatically reduced by the development of novel therapies for inhibiting platelet function. Circulating platelets are maintained in a resting state and are activated at sites of vascular injury by exquisitely controlled mechanisms, thereby maintaining vascular integrity without causing intravascular thrombosis. As it became clear that platelets play a central role in arterial thrombosis, the processes of platelet activation, adhesion, and aggregation became logical targets for the development of antithrombotic agents.

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