Assessment of an ELISA Kit for Platelet-Derived Microparticles by Joint Research at Many Institutes in Japan

Abstract

Aim: Platelet-derived microparticles (PDMPs) play roles in normal hemostatic responses to vascular injury because they possess prothrombinase activity. Although the most widely used method for studying PDMP is flow cytometry, we previously developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method as an easier and more reproducible PDMP assay. The purpose of this study was to use various clinical settings to verify whether this ELISA method can produce equivalent results to flow cytometry for PDMP. Methods: We performed a large-scale clinical study for various thrombotic and subatherothrombotic diseases using an ELISA kit. The study group included 692 patients with cerebral infarction, heart failure, acute coronary syndrome or diabetes mellitus. Results: When baseline PDMP values in the various diseases were compared with those in healthy controls, significant differences were noted in all cases. There were significantly elevated levels of PDMPs in diabetic patients with complications but no thrombosis. When baseline PDMP values in cerebral infarction were compared within the subclassifications, atheroma and other types of infarction exhibited significantly elevated PDMP levels compared with lacunar infarction. Cerebral infarction exhibited a significant change in PDMPs after therapy compared with the baseline (before therapy), but not in acute coronary syndrome and heart failure. The ELISA method exhibited results almost identical to flow cytometry for PDMP in various atherothrombotic diseases.

Critically ill Patients and Platelet-Derived Microparticles

“…PDMPs can modulate coagulation through both direct and indirect mechanisms. Therefore, MP concentration increases are documented in almost all thrombotic diseases occurring in venous or arterial beds 3,4) . Furthermore, elevated MP levels are found in conditions associated with inflammation, cellular activation, angiogenesis, and vascular dysfunction 1, 2) .…”

Biomimmetic surfaces effectively inhibiting coagulation process dedicated for cardiovascular devices

“…Microparticle activity of blood plasma denotes the fragmentation of platelets and the release of cell membrane vesicles. Microparticles impose thrombotic burden on circulating blood [67] and were recently found to correlate with atherosclerosis and a risk for major adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart infarction or stroke [68,69]. In analysing the results, it is also important to note that the values of the free haemoglobin levels were within the range of the specified standards developed for the preparation and storage of whole blood.…”

Platelet Microparticles: Making Blood a Bad Humor

“…Prior studies have shown that ELISA assays correlate well with FACS determinations, although they require particles that simultaneously express 2 platelet markers 9,10 . Since PDMP display heterogeneity in terms of size and marker expression, an ELISA, like any other detection method, may miss particle subpopulations.…”