2003 Volume 14 Issue 4 Pages 326-336
The oral antiplatelet agent clopidogrel sulfate (SR25990C), an ADP receptor antagonist, showed an antiplatelet effect comparable to that of ticlopidine hydrochloride at a lower dose. Clopidogrel is therefore expected to be a safer antiplatelet drug than ticlopidine. The present clinical pharmacology study was performed on 124 Japanese patients with cerebral infarction, who were all given either 10, 37.5, or 75mg/day of clopidogrel or 200mg/day of ticlopidine for 2 weeks in order to evaluate the dose-response relationship in terms of the precisely measured inhibition of platelet aggregation. Sex, age, smoking and diabetes mellitus have been reported as factors affecting platelet aggregation. The effects of sex and age on the baseline platelet aggregation were confirmed, whereas no effect was observed on the post-treatment platelet aggregation in the present study. In contrast, the platelet count and the baseline platelet aggregation appeared to affect the post-treatment platelet aggregation.
