Effects of defibrotide on leukocytosis in rabbits with diet-induced atherosclerosis

The antithrombotic drug Defibrotide (DFT) (a polydeoxyribonucleotide with a mean MW of 20,000 Daltons) reduces the number of leukocytes and platelets in thrombi. Because leukocytes and platelets are of importance in the genesis of endothelial lesions leading to atherosclerosis, DFT was given to challenge leukocytosis in rabbits with diet-induced atherosclerosis (0.25% cholesterol for 16 weeks). After 9 weeks of cholesterol feeding and at the end of experiment, oral DFT (60 mg/Kg per day) had decreased the leukocyte count raised by the cholesterol diet. Leukocyte stickiness and leukocyte differential counts were not modified by either oral cholesterol or by oral cholesterol plus oral DFT. At the end of experiment, oral DFT had normalized the platelet count increased by cholesterol diet. The red blood cell count decreased by oral cholesterol at 9 weeks and at the end of experiment was normalized by DFT. The % of aortae endothelial surface involved in the atherosclerotic process was decreased by oral DFT. The frequencies of intimal thickening in blood vessels of kidneys and hearts and in cardiac valves were reduced by oral DFT by 47%, 29% and 17%, although these reductions were not statistically significant. It is suggested that DFT, by preventing the increase in the number of leukocytes and platelets and deactivating them, as demonstrated in papers already published, was able to counteract against the atherosclerotic process.