Determination of specific inhibitors of thromboxane A2 formation.

Activation of platelets by contact with collagen leads to the simultaneous formation of a prostaglandin and thromboxane (TXA2), which can be assayed biologically with the superfused rabbit aorta and rat stomach strip. By this method it has been shown that a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor, aspirin, inhibited formation of both prostaglandin and TXA2 while a specific TXA2 synthetase inhibitor, clotrimazole, inhibited only TXA2 formation. The method is suitable as a primary screen in the search for TXA2 specific synthetase inhibitors.