Summary
Long-term evidence supports a clustering of cardiovascular events in the early morning.
Several studies have shown that platelet hyper-reactivity to various stimuli is also
present at this period of the day. However, the idea of treatment strategies reflecting
the circadian variation in platelet reactivity has been largely neglected so far,
and this is true despite the huge number of patients being treated with these drugs.
Some pharmacodynamic data suggest that early-morning platelet hyper-reactivity may
be overcome by shifting aspirin intake to the bedtime. However, there is lack of evidence
whether shifting the time of intake or splitting the daily dose of P2Y12-inhibitors
with a regular QD dosing (clopidogrel or prasugrel) to the evening would be effective
to overcome platelet hyper-reactivity or to suppress the excess of cardiovascular
events observed during morning hours. Further research is warranted to clarify whether
such a simple and costless effort like dose shifting or splitting may be beneficial
to prevent cardiovascular events.
Keywords
ADP receptors - antiplatelet agents - clinical trials - antiplatelet drugs - platelet
pharmacology