A non‐invasive technique for the scintigraphic determination of 111indium‐labelled platelet aggregation stimulated with submaximal doses of adenosine diphosphate (ADP, 56 μg kg−1 i.v.), collagen (100 μg kg−1 i.v.), platelet‐activating factor (PAF, 0.1 μg kg−1 i.v.) or thrombin (18 iu kg−1 i.v.) was used to investigate the platelet‐inhibitory effects of endothelin 1 (ET‐1) in anaesthetized rabbits in vivo.
ET‐1 (1 nmol kg−1 i.v.) inhibited ADP‐stimulated platelet aggregation in vivo; a maximum inhibition of 78% of the control value was reached at 3 min, with 45% inhibition at 15 min, and a return to control values at 30 min after injection of the peptide.
ET‐1 (1 nmol kg−1 i.v.) inhibited in vivo platelet aggregation in response to collagen or PAF by 86% and 52%, respectively, but had no effect on thrombin‐induced platelet aggregation.
Indomethacin (5 mg kg−1 i.v.) abolished the ET‐1‐induced inhibition of ADP‐stimulated platelet aggregation and significantly potentiated and prolonged the pressor response brought about by ET‐1.
In conclusion, the data demonstrate that ET‐1 potently inhibits platelet aggregation in the anaesthetized rabbit in vivo by releasing a hypotensive and anti‐aggregatory cyclo‐oxygenase product, presumably prostacyclin, into the circulation.