Pharmacogenomics of Antiplatelet Response - II

Platelet aggregation can initiate thrombosis on ulcerated arterial plaques resulting in acute coronary syndrome (ACS). There is large variation in platelet aggregation between individuals. As the genetic message to the cell machinery is conveyed through its transcriptome, we hypothesize that much of the variability in platelet function can be explained by transcriptome changes including differences in gene or isoform expression, altered splicing events, or allele-specific expression. Moreover, aspirin modifies gene expression in several cells, but whether it also affects platelet transcriptome has not yet been studied. Our goal is to characterize the platelet transcriptome and identify genes that are up- or down-regulated after 4-week aspirin therapy. A major strength of our study is that it enrolls individuals from European Americans and African Americans and thus will have the ability to study similarities and differences between the two. The study will produce innovative comparative genomic/platelet phenotype data and will provide a potential pharmacogenomic and diagnostic template for the future discovery of novel antiplatelet regimens to prevent thrombosis-related cardiovascular disease events.