Effect of Vitamin C on Platelet Adhesiveness and Platelet Aggregation in Coronary Artery Disease Patients

Abstract

The effect of oral administration of vitamin C on platelet adhesive index (PAI), platelet aggregate ratio (PAg R) and serum ascorbic acid levels was studied. Feeding 75 g of butter to healthy males (group I, n=10 cases), enhanced the tendency of platelet adhesiveness (PAd) and platelet aggregation (PAg) to a significant level at the end of 4 h, This was distinctly prevented when 1 g of vitamin C was added to the fatty meal. In coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (group II, n=20 cases) 10 days of vitamin C administration at 1 g every 8 hours decreased the PAd (p<0.001) and PAg (p<0.05) significantly. There was also a significant (p <0.001) rise in the vitamin C levels. The study brings out a property of vitamin C which may be of considerable importance in prevention of chronic thromboatherosclerotic disease of the arteries. Copyright © 1985 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.