Antiplatelet agents in the prevention and therapy of thrombosis.

Platelets contribute significantly to vaso-occlusive thrombosis, one of the major causes of death and disease throughout the world. Consequently, inhibiting platelet function is a potentially important therapeutic goal. Increasing evidence indicates the value of aspirin, a relatively weak antiplatelet agent in the prophylaxis and treatment of vascular disease, and of ticlopidine, a somewhat more potent antiplatelet agent that may be somewhat more effective clinically. Recent advances in our understanding of platelet physiology provide crucial information for the rational design of newer agents that can neutralize thrombin and block the platelet receptor most important in platelet aggregation (GPIIb/IIIa). Several such agents, which are much more potent than aspirin in vitro and in animal models of thrombosis, are now in human clinical trials.