Association of platelet aggregation with lipid levels in the Japanese population: the suita study

Aim: platelets play a pivotal role in atherothrombotic diseases. platelet aggregability induced by agonists has great interindividual variability; however,the factors influencing platelet aggregability variation have not been characterized in asia. methods: to examine the confounding factors influencing platelet counts and responsiveness to agonists,we measured the platelet counts and platelet aggregability induced by 1.7 μm adenosine diphosphate (adp) or 1.7 μg/ml collagen using a light transmittance aggregometer in the japanese general population without medication or cardiovascular disease (387 men and 550 women) in the suita study. results: platelet counts were negatively correlated with age in both men and women (spearman's rank correlation coefficient: r s = -0.230 and -0.227; p<0.01,respectively). in women,platelet counts were correlated negatively with the high-density lipoprotein (hdl) cholesterol level and positively with the low-density lipoprotein (ldl) cholesterol/hdl cholesterol (l/h) ratio (r s = -0.135 and 0.119; p<0.01,respectively). in women,platelet aggregabilities by adp and collagen were correlated with age (r s = 0.118 and 0.143; p<0.01,respectively),and collagen-induced platelet aggregability was correlated with the ldl cholesterol level,the l/h ratio,and the non-hdl cholesterol level (r s = 0.167,0.172,and 0.185; p<0.01,respectively). even after adjustment for age,systolic blood pressure,body mass index,and current smoking and drinking,the association of platelet counts with the l/h ratio in women and associations of collagen-induced platelet aggregability with the l/h ratio and the non-hdl cholesterol level remained. conclusion: examination of platelet counts and platelet aggregability induced by adp and collagen revealed gender,age and lipid levels as factors influencing inter-individual variability.