Resistance to antiplatelet drugs in patients with cerebrovascular disorders

Abstract

This review concerns clinical and laboratory resistance to antiplatelet drugs (aspirin and clopidogrel) in patients with cerebrovascular disorders. Results of certain clinical trials showed that laboratory resistance to antiaggregants is associated with recurrent thromboembolic vascular events. The commonest causes of aspirin resistance are production of arachidonic acid metabolites via the lipoxygenase pathway, poor compliance with the treatment, polymorphism of the genes encoding for cyclooxygenase and glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa, endothelial dysfunction. The causes of clopidogrel resistance include inadequate doses of the drug, its low absorption, poor compliance with the treatment, polymorphism of ADP receptors, GP IIb/IIIa and cytochrome P450 genes, acute coronary syndrome and stroke, metabolic syndrome. Therapeutic efficacy of antiaggregants can be improved by increasing their doses, using membranotropic agents, correcting endothelial dysfunction, etc. Because the apparent variability of antiplatelet drug resistance is currently due to the use of different testsystems by different authors, the evaluation of individual sensitivity to a given drug showing laboratory resistance and the choice of alternative therapy are thus far possible only in the framework of clinical studies. Large-scale prospective multicenter trials of antiplatelet drug resistance are needed along with research for better understanding mechanisms of individual platelet sensitivity and resistance to antiaggregants and developing efficacious methods for their correction.