Fibrinopeptide A cleavage and platelet release in whole blood in vitro. Effects of stimuli, inhibitors, and agitation.

The relationship between platelet release and fibrinopeptide A cleavage from fibrinogen to form fibrin I in vitro was examined in blood allowed to clot undisturbed or with gentle agitation. In undisturbed or agitated blood platelet release and fibrin I formation occurred simultaneously. When hirudin was added to undisturbed blood it prevented platelet release as well as fibrin I formation. In contrast, hirudin added to agitated blood had little effect on platelet release despite complete inhibition of fibrin I formation. Collagen added to either undisturbed or agitated blood increased platelet release and then fibrin I formation, and ADP added to undisturbed blood caused an initial burst of platelet release followed by slight acceleration of fibrinopeptide A cleavage. Prostaglandin E1 and theophylline prevented platelet release in both undisturbed and agitated blood, but did not affect fibrin I formation. The results with inhibitors in agitated blood suggest that fibrin I formation and platelet release can occur independently in the presence of the increased interactions induced by agitation. Addition of thrombin or tissue thromboplastin to undisturbed blood accelerated fibrin I formation with little effect on platelet release. Finally, initial thrombin formation in undisturbed blood appeared to be associated with the platelet surface. These relationships suggest that thrombin formation via the intrinsic system leads to thrombin generation on the platelet surface and simultaneous platelet release and fibrin I formation, while thrombin generated via tissue thromboplastin leads to thrombin formation in the plasma and fibrin I formation preceding platelet release. Activation by interaction of blood with collagen causes initial acceleration of platelet release and later acceleration of fibrin I formation.