Clinical and Experimental Analysis of Platelet Micro Particles Inducing Thrombosis after Coronary Stenting

A limited number of reports are analyzing the etiology and the mechanism of coronary heart disease by examining the source cells of micro particles (MPs) in coronary heart disease patients with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aims to explore the circulating platelet micro particles (PMPs) content variation in the blood stream and the mechanism of MPs-inducing thrombosis in patients operated with coronary stenting, with the intent to analyze the impact of PMPs on thrombosis and in-stent restenosis.

3000 patients with coronary heart disease were successfully operated with PCI. Subsequently, 100 patients and 50 healthy subjects were selected and divided into three groups: 1) normal control group (group A, 50 cases) of healthy subjects; 2) stenting + thrombosis group (group B, 50 cases); 3) stenting + non-thrombosis group (group C, 50 cases). Venous blood was drawn from the three groups of subjects to prepare platelet-free plasma, which was subjected to flow cytometry to examine the content of PMPs. In the meantime, the blood samples from the three groups of subjects were induced with 1 x 105 MPs from the patients in the stenting + thrombosis group, and the changes of thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) were observed.

PMPs' red fluorescence from group C was significantly more intense than that in the PMPs from group A, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). No significant difference was observed when comparing the content of PMPs in group B with the content in group A (p > 0.05). Thrombin in group B was increased significantly compared with thrombin content in group C, and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). The thrombin level difference between group B and group C was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).

The content of PMPs in the patients with thrombosis after stenting was significantly increased, and the PMPs may induce the generation of thrombin. The PMPs' content variation in the peripheral blood circulation may be used to predict in-stent thrombosis and to evaluate therapeutic efficacy in the clinic.