Significance of Platelet Activation in Alzheimer's Disease

Aim: To compare baseline activation of unstimulated platelets in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with that in control subjects. Methods: Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to measure the levels of CD4l (GP Ⅱｂ/ Ⅲ a, P2 ),CD63P (GMP- 140) and CD62 (GP53) in 24 patients with probable AD and 13 age-matched control subjects. Results: Platelets of patients with AD exhibit greater unstimulated activation than those of controls. The levels of three platelet membrane glycoproteins (GMPs) were significantly higher than those of controls (P0.05). Conclusion: In light of evidence that platelets are princi- pal source of both amyloid precursor protein and β-amyloid peptide in human blood, it is possible that AD platelet activation may reflect or even contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease.