Blood lipid peroxides in TIA: relation to platelet function and metabolic profile

Patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA) were previously shown to have high plasma values of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBA-RS). To study whether these changes could be related to platelet activability, TBA-RS was investigated in 24 TIA patients before and 24 h after 1 g aspirin, an inhibitor of platelet cyclooxygenase pathway. Baseline TBA-RS values were significantly higher in TIA than in controls. Conversely, TIA patients had TBA-RS values after aspirin similar to controls, suggesting that the increase of plasma TBA-RS was not attributable to platelet hyperfunction. The evaluation of metabolic profile showed that patients with highest TBA-RS had hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and/or diabetes mellitus. This study suggests that the increase of plasma TBA-RS in TIA could be an epiphenomenon of altered metabolic pathway.