Title:The Role of Platelets in Athero-Thrombotic Events
Volume: 18
Issue: 33
Author(s): Matthias K. Freynhofer, Veronika Bruno, Johann Wojta and Kurt Huber
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Platelets, atherothrombosis, hemostasis, acute coronary syndromes
Abstract: The crucial role of platelets in primary hemostasis and repair of injured endothelium is well established, as is their role in
atherothrombosis. No other single cell type is responsible for as much morbidity and mortality, since death from ischemic heart disease or
stroke is by far the leading cause of death worldwide. There is no doubt that our understanding of atherothrombosis has guided current
antithrombotic strategies that have dramatically reduced ischemic complications and cardiovascular mortality within the last decades. Yet
the rate of ischemic complications after optimal revascularization therapy remains disappointingly high. There is still a strong need for
new and smart antiplatelet drugs. The ideal antithrombotic drug would spare physiological platelet function, hemostasis and vascular repair
in order to avoid bleeding complications, but would exclusively target the pathological atherothrombotic process. As platelet activity
might be determined early in the bone marrow, this review starts with insights into the birth of platelets, describes the essential and primary
role of platelets in hemostasis with new evidence in signaling cascades, and closes with the deleterious role of platelets in atherosclerosis
and atherothrombosis, with a focus on acute coronary syndromes.
