Significance of testing platelet functions in vitro

Platelets respond through discrete receptors to a number of physiological agonists and foreign surfaces with a sequence of measurable responses: shape change, aggregation, secretion and arachidonate liberation. Three secretory responses are distinguished: exocytosis of substances from (1) dense granules, (2) alpha-granules and (3) lysosomes. Free arachidonate, liberated from phospholipids by phospholipase A2, is rapidly converted (by oxygenation) to prostaglandins and thromboxanes which, together with secreted ADP and close cell contact, will cause further platelet activation through 'positive feedback' (autocrine stimulation). Some agonists are classified as 'weak' (ADP, vasopressin, platelet-activating factor [PAF], serotonin) because they depend on autocrine stimulation to promote the full sequence of responses, while others are 'strong' agonists (thrombin, collagen) and activate all responses directly without autocrine stimulation. Adrenaline, long thought to be a platelet agonist per se, most probably acts by amplifying the activation brought about by other, proper, agonists. Such synergistic interaction among agonists is very typical for platelet activation and most likely takes place in vivo. Shape change, aggregation and secretion(s) may be tested by flow cytometry or electron microscopy in vitro under conditions that probably reflect the in vivo situation. However, the aggregation response to weak agonists in vitro is dependent on the extracellular [Ca2+], with biphasic aggregation at the low [Ca2+] present when citrate is used as anticoagulant (or in suspension of washed platelets) but not at the physiological [Ca2+] present in platelet-rich plasma from heparinized blood.