Increased platelet reactivity in HIV-1-infected patients receiving abacavir-containing antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Current or recent use of abacavir for treating human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection has been associated with increased rates of myocardial infarction (MI). Given the role of platelet aggregation in thrombus formation in MI and the reversible nature of the abacavir association, we hypothesized that patients treated with abacavir would have increased platelet reactivity.

Methods: In a prospective study in adult HIV-infected patients, we determined associations between antiretrovirals (ARVs), and in particular the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor abacavir, and platelet reactivity by measuring time-dependent platelet aggregation in response to agonists: adenosine diphosphate (ADP), thrombin receptor-activating peptide (TRAP), collagen, and epinephrine.

Platelet function and HIV: a case-control study.

Objective: Cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction are of increasing concern in HIV-infected populations. Although platelets mediate arterial thrombosis, central to myocardial infarction, data on platelet function in HIV infection are lacking. We hypothesized that HIV-infected patients would have altered platelet reactivity.