Summary
Under high shear arterial blood flow von Willebrand Factor (vWF) binds the platelet
receptor glycoprotein (GP) Ibα, leading to platelet adhesion, activation and thrombosis.
Blockade of vWF-GPIbα interactions by GPG-290 was investigated in a canine model of
coronary artery thrombosis alone and in combination with clopidogrel. GPG-290 (100
µg/kg, n=6; 500 µg/kg, n=6) prolonged time to thrombotic occlusion (TTO) to 105±34
and 156±23 (p<0.05) min, respectively compared to the saline treated control group
(32±6min, n=6). Patency of the injured vessel was sustained in 1/6 (100µg/kg) and
3/6 vessels (500 µg/kg) 4 hours after injury, in contrast to 0/6 in the control group.
There was an increase in bleeding after the 500 µg/kg dose, but only at the 1 hr time
point. Clopidogrel was studied in two dosing regimens representing either a clinical
pretreatment regimen (PTR) of 4.3 mg/kg on day –2 followed by 1.1 mg/kg daily for2
days prior to the procedure or pre-procedural loading dose regimen (LDR) of 4.3 mg/kg
3 hr pre-procedure. The PTR and LDR clopidogrel treatments prolonged TTO to 98.2±30.0
min and 136.1±39.5 min (p<0.05), and sustained patency in 1/6 and 4/8 vessels, respectively.
However, template bleeding time in the LDR clopidogrel group was sustained higher
than the control group. The combination of PTR clopidogrel and GPG-290 (100 µg/kg)
prolonged TTO equivalent to LDR clopidogrel alone (141.4±35.1 min) and sustained patency
in 3/7 dogs, without increased bleeding while LDR clopidogrel combined with 100 µg/kg
GPG-290 prevented occlusion in 5/8 dogs and further prolonged TTO (173.5±32.6 min)
but was associated with increased bleeding compared to control. GPG-290 is an antithrombotic
agent that may be combined with lower doses of clopidogrel to yield similar antithrombotic
efficacy as higher loading doses.
Keywords
Glycoprotein (GP) Ibα - platelet adhesion - platelet agglutination - thrombosis -
von Willebrand factor (vWF)