Abstract
The anti-aggregatory prostanoid, prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) does not completely inhibit ADP-induced aggregation of guinea-pig platelets and thus produces a bell-shaped dose-inhibition curve. The nature of this bell-shaped curve has now been investigated in guinea-pig platelet-rich plasma. Two selective thromboxane receptor antagonists, 13-aza-prostanoic acid (13-AZA; 16-64.4 microM) and BM 13.177 (5.9-29.8 microM), converted PGD2 to a full inhibitor of aggregation in a dose-related manner. The putative platelet PGD2 receptor antagonist, N-0164 (75 microM) also converted PGD2 to a full inhibitor of platelet aggregation. In contrast to 13-AZA and BM 13.177, higher concentrations of N-0164 (380 and 760 microM) caused a dose-related rightward shift of the PGD2 dose-inhibition curve. The thromboxane receptor antagonism of N-0164 was confirmed in studies in which the dose-aggregation curve to U-46619, a thromboxane mimetic, was competitively antagonized with a pA2 value of 4.67 and a slope of 1.13, comparable to that of 13-AZA. The results show that N-0164 acts as both a platelet PGD2 and thromboxane-receptor antagonist in both human and guinea-pig platelet-rich plasma. The results further indicate that PGD2 can interact at thromboxane receptors in guinea-pig platelets.