Protective effect of oral xemilofiban in arterial thrombosis in dogs: increased activity in combination with aspirin.

Background: Inhibition of platelet aggregation by preventing the binding of fibrinogen to glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa on activated platelets results in antithrombotic activity. We report on the antithrombotic effect of xemilofiban (SC-54684A), an oral GP IIb/IIIa antagonist, administered alone or with aspirin (ASA) in an acute thrombosis model.

Methods And Results: Conscious dogs were treated with xemilofiban (1.

Assessment of platelet function assays.

Optical aggregometry, traditionally used to assess platelet function, is highly dependent on sample preparation and technical procedure; as a result, data from various laboratories can be quite variable. In a study designed to assess the sources of variation, it was determined that the total standard deviation ranged from 3.6% to 7.

Thrombosis triggered by severe arterial lesions is inhibited by oral administration of a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonist.

Platelet aggregation and thrombosis play an important role in the onset of acute coronary events. Regardless of the stimulus for activation, platelet thrombus formation is ultimately regulated through the IIb/IIIa receptor complex. The effects of oral administration of xemilofiban, a non-peptide mimetic of the RGDF sequence of the IIb/IIIa receptor complex, on thrombus formation were evaluated in a canine model.

The amino-terminal one-third of alpha IIb defines the ligand recognition specificity of integrin alpha IIb beta 3.

The integrin alpha subunits play a major role in the regulation of ligand binding specificity. To gain further insight into the regions of the alpha subunits that regulate ligand specificity, we have utilized alpha v / alpha IIb chimeras to identify regions of alpha IIb that when substituted for the homologous regions of alpha v switched the ligand binding phenotype of alpha v beta 3 to that of alpha IIb beta 3. We report that the ligand recognition specificity of beta 3 integrins is regulated by the amino-terminal one-third of the alpha subunit.

A mimetic of the RGDF-peptide [arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-phenylalanine] blocks aggregation and flow-induced platelet deposition on severely injured stenotic arterial wall. Effects on different animal models and in humans.

8-Guanidino-octanoyl-aspartic acid-phenylalanine (SC-49992), a mimetic of the tetrapeptide arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-phelylalanine, inhibits fibrinogen and vitronectin binding to GP IIb/IIIa. SC-49992 effects on impedance and optical aggregation were compared in different species (human, porcine and dog), SC-49992 induced significant inhibition both in whole blood and PRP aggregation, in all species; however, porcine platelets had a SC-49992 IC50 = 2.5 mM while human and dog platelets had a significant lower IC50 (1 microM and 1.