Halofenate: a potent inhibitor of normal and hypersensitive platelets

Platelet hypersensitivity has been documented in diabetes and angina pectoris and can be partially reversed in hyperbetalipoproteinemia by clofibrate. We therefore examined the effects of incubating another lipid-lowering agent, halofenate, with both normal platelets and platelets made hypersensitive in vitro by incorporation of 55 per cent excess cholesterol into their membranes. At therapeutic concentrations, halofenate caused a time- and dose-dependent inhibition of the aggregation of normal platelets by epinephrine. After 30 minutes' incubation at 37 degrees C., halofenate significantly inhibited the extent of aggregation by 88 per cent (p less than 0.01), whereas clofibrate inhibited aggregation by 44 per cent (p less than 0.01). Halofenate was a more potent inhibitor of platelets than clofibrate (p less than 0.01). The mean threshold concentration of epinephrine necessary for aggregation of normal platelets (4.2 muM) was not significatnly increased with clofibrate (10 muM) but was markedly elevated with halofenate (245 muM; p less than 0.001). Significant but less dramatic increases in threshold concentration of ADP and collagen were found with halofenate but no clofibrate. Cholesterol-rich platelets were 114-fold more sensitive to epinephrine and twofold more sensitive to ADP than normal platelets but after incubation with halofenate became even less sensitive than normal. Clofibrate inhibited the extent of aggregation of hypersensitive platelets but did not alter the threshold concentration of epinephrine necessary for aggregation. Thus, halofenate is more potent than clofibrate in reducing the sensitivity of normal platelets to aggregating agents in vitro and can completely reverse experimentally produced platelet hypersensitivity. These data suggest that halofenate might be useful in reversing increased platelet sensitivity in cardiovascular diseases.