Abstract
Objective—To determine if clopidogrel enhanced the thrombolytic rate of tissue-plasminogen activator (t-PA) on an in vitro feline whole blood thrombosis model.
Animals—9 purpose-bred cats.
Procedure—Blood obtained from cats before (baseline) and after treatment with clopidogrel (75 mg, PO, q 24 h for 3 days) was anticoagulated with sodium citrate (9:1 volume-to-volume ratio) to which 1 µCi of I125- fibrinogen was added. Thrombi were formed by the addition of calcium chloride and bovine thrombin. Thrombi were placed into autologous plasma to which 0.1 mg of t-PA was added. Plasma samples were collected at different time points to determine the amount of released I125-fibrin split products. Thrombolytic rates were calculated by determining the time to 25%, 50%, and 75% thrombolysis (t25, t50, and t75, respectively). Confidence intervals for t25, t50, and t75 at baseline were compared with those after treatment.
Results—There were no significant differences in thrombolytic rates between values obtained at baseline and after clopidogrel treatment (t25, 18.0 vs 18.5 minutes; t50, 63.3 vs 65.6 minutes; and t75, 163.0 vs 170.1 minutes, respectively).
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Clopidogrel did not have an effect on the rate of thrombolysis of feline whole blood thrombi induced by t-PA in this in vitro model. (Am J Vet Res 2004;65:715–719)
