Background: Inhibition of platelet aggregation by clopidogrel may be insufficient in up to 30% of users. These nonresponders carry an increased risk of cardiovascular events. We reported here a simple assay to study clopidogrel responsiveness.
Methods: Electrical impedance aggregometry was performed in diluted whole blood in the presence of 5 and 20 micromol/L ADP. Some samples were incubated with 0.1 mmol/L methyl-S-adenosine monophosphate (MeSAMP), a P2Y12 receptor blocker, to maximize inhibition of aggregation before aggregometry. To validate the assay, we analyzed 6-min impedance in 21 healthy probands and 244 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Results: At 5 micromol/L ADP, the imprecision of the assay was 11%. Mean (SD) impedance of the healthy cohort was 12.2 (2.2) Omega. The mean - 3 SD was used to define the cutoff for clopidogrel responsiveness: responders and nonresponders exhibited a 6-min impedance < or =5 Omega and >5 Omega, respectively. Samples from nonresponders were incubated with MeSAMP and analyzed again to distinguish pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic types of resistance. Sixteen percent of CAD patients were classified as nonresponders (38 and 2 cases of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic resistance, respectively). Female sex was strongly associated with clopidogrel resistance (P = 0.0002, Fisher exact test). A higher clopidogrel loading dose (P = 0.0353, Mann-Whitney U-test) was given to responders (median, 450 mg) than nonresponders (median, 300 mg). Age and cardiovascular diagnosis showed no significant associations.
Conclusions: Impedance aggregometry using 5 mumol/L ADP is a useful tool for studying clopidogrel responsiveness. MeSAMP allows characterization of responsiveness "on treatment" and may be useful for optimizing clopidogrel dosing.