BACKGROUND: The persistence of depressive symptoms after hospitalization is a strong risk factor for mortality after acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Poor adherence to secondary prevention behaviors may be a mediator of the relationship between depression and increased mortality. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether rates of adherence to risk reducing behaviors were affected by depressive status during hospitalization and 3 months later. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort study. SETTING: Three university hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: Five hundred and sixty patients were enrolled within 7 days after ACS. Of these, 492 (88%) patients completed 3‐month follow‐up. MEASUREMENTS: We used the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess depressive symptoms in the hospital and 3 months after discharge. We assessed adherence to 5 risk‐reducing behaviors by patient self‐report at 3 months. We used χ2 analysis to compare differences in adherence among 3 groups: persistently nondepressed (BDI <10 at hospitalization and 3 months); remittent depressed (BDI ≥10 at hospitalization; <10 at 3 months); and persistently depressed patients (BDI ≥10 at hospitalization and 3 months). RESULTS: Compared with persistently nondepressed, persistently depressed patients reported lower rates of adherence to quitting smoking (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.23, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.05 to 0.97), taking medications (adjusted OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.95), exercising (adjusted OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.95), and attending cardiac rehabilitation (adjusted OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.91). There were no significant differences between remittent depressed and persistently nondepressed patients. CONCLUSIONS: Persistently depressed patients were less likely to adhere to behaviors that reduce the risk of recurrent ACS. Differences in adherence to these behaviors may explain in part why depression predicts mortality after ACS.

Background: Aspirin (ASA) + clopidogrel are commonly used in acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but persistent antiplatelet effects may complicate surgery. Methods and Results: To study the possibility of normalizing platelet reactivity after ASA + clopidogrel treatment, 11 healthy subjects received a 325-mg ASA + clopidogrel loading dose (300 or 600 mg dependent on study arm), followed by 81 mg of ASA + 75 mg of clopidogrel daily for 2 days. Platelet reactivity was assessed by light transmittance aggregometry (LTA) [challenged by adenosine diphosphate (ADP), arachidonic acid (AA), collagen, and thrombin receptor activating peptide (TRAP)] and flow cytometry for platelet activation by GPIIb/ IIIa receptor exposure pretreatment, 4 and 72 h postload. To normalize platelet reactivity, increasing amounts of pooled platelets from five untreated volunteers [volunteers (V)-platelet-rich plasma (PRP)] were added ex vivo to the subject's PRP (S-PRP). At both 4 and 72 h, 40% and 50% V-PRP were needed to overcome platelet disaggregation in the 300 or 600 mg arms, respectively, after ADP challenge; an additional 10% V-PRP fully normalized aggregation. Recovery of function was linear with each incremental increase of V-PRP. ADP-induced GPIIb/IIIa activation showed the same pattern as LTA (r ¼ 0.74). Forty percent V-PRP was required to normalize platelet function to AA, collagen, and TRAP. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the pre-operative transfusion of 10 platelet concentrate units (the equivalent of 40% V-PRP) after a 300-mg clopidogrel loading or 12.5 units (50% V-PRP) after a 600 mg loading may adequately reverse clopidogrel-induced platelet disaggregation to facilitate postoperative hemostasis. An additional 2.5 units fully normalized platelet function. The potential clinical implications of our observations could include shorter hospitalizations and reduced bleeding complications. But these observations should be fully explored in an in vivo clinical setting with clopidogrel-treated patients before and after surgery.

Context Depression is a consistent predictor of recurrent events and mortality in ACS patients, but it has 2 core diagnostic criteria with distinct biological correlates—depressed mood and anhedonia. Objective To determine if depressed mood and/or anhedonia (loss of pleasure or interest) predict 1-year medical outcomes for patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS). Design Observational cohort study of post-ACS patients hospitalized between May 2003 and June 2005. Within one week of admission, patients underwent a structured psychiatric interview to assess clinically impairing depressed mood, anhedonia, and major depressive episode (MDE); also assessed were the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events risk score, Charlson comorbidity index, left ventricular ejection fraction, antidepressant use, and depressive symptom severity. Setting Coronary care and cardiac care step-down units of 3 university hospitals in New York and Connecticut. Participants Consecutive sample of 453 ACS patients (aged 25–93 years; 42% women). Main Outcomes Measures All-cause mortality (ACM) and documented major adverse cardiac events (MACE; myocardial infarction, hospitalization for unstable angina, or urgent revascularization) were actively surveyed for 1 year after admission. Results There were 67 events (16 deaths and 51 MACE; 14.8%). 108 (24%) and 77 (17%) patients with anhedonia and depressed mood, respectively. After controlling for sex, age, and medical covariates, anhedonia (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.16–2.14; P<.01) and MDE (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.04; P=.02) were significant predictors of combined MACE/ACM, but depressed mood was not. Anhedonia continued to significantly predict outcomes controlling for MDE diagnosis and depressive symptom severity, each of which were no longer significant. Conclusions Anhedonia identifies risk for MACE/ACM beyond that of established medical prognostic indicators. Biological correlates of anhedonia may add to the understanding of the link between depression and heart disease.

Background-Whether selective factor IXa inhibition produces an appropriate anticoagulant effect when combined with platelet-directed therapy in patients with stable coronary artery disease is unknown. REG1 consists of RB006 (drug), an injectable RNA aptamer that specifically binds and inhibits factor IXa, and RB007 (antidote), the complementary oligonucleotide that neutralizes its anti-IXa activity. Methods and Results-We evaluated the safety, tolerability, and pharmacodynamic profile of REG1 in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, assigning 50 subjects with coronary artery disease taking aspirin and/or clopidogrel to 4 dose levels of RB006 (15, 30, 50, and 75 mg) and RB007 (30, 60, 100, and 150 mg). The median age was 61 years (25th and 75th percentiles, 56 and 68 years), and 80% of patients were male. RB006 increased the activated partial thromboplastin time dose dependently; the median activated partial thromboplastin time at 10 minutes after a single intravenous bolus of 15, 30, 50, and 75 mg RB006 was 29.2 seconds (25th and 75th percentiles, 28.1 and 29.8 seconds), 34.6 seconds (25th and 75th percentiles, 30.9 and 40.0 seconds), 46.9 seconds (25th and 75th percentiles, 40.3 and 51.1 seconds), and 52.2 seconds (25th and 75th percentiles, 46.3 and 58.6) (PϽ0.0001; normal 25th and 75th percentiles, 27 and 40 seconds). RB007 reversed the activated partial thromboplastin time to baseline levels within a median of 1 minute (25th and 75th percentiles, 1 and 2 minutes) with no rebound increase through 7 days. No major bleeding or other serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions-This is the first experience of an RNA aptamer drug-antidote pair achieving inhibition and active restoration of factor IXa activity in combination with platelet-directed therapy in stable coronary artery disease. The preliminary clinical safety and predictable pharmacodynamic effects form the basis for ongoing studies in patients undergoing elective revascularization procedures. (Circulation. 2008;117:2865-2874.)