Effect of chronic kidney disease on platelet reactivity to dual-antiplatelet therapy in patients treated with drug-eluting stents

We investigated the effect of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on platelet function in patients receiving dual-antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. We examined 19 patients with CKD and 18 patients without CKD who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with DES. All of the patients had been on chronic aspirin treatment. Blood samples were obtained 20-24 h after a loading dose (300 mg) of clopidogrel. Platelet function was evaluated by measuring the closure time (CT) of a collagen/epinephrine (CEPI) or collagen/adenosine diphosphate (CADP) cartridge in the PFA-100 system. Maximum aggregation of agonist (epinephrine, ADP, collagen, or ristocetin)-induced platelet aggregation was also examined by light transmittance aggregometry. The frequency of the poor responders among CKD (n = 9, 47.4%) patients was significantly higher than that among non-CKD patients (n = 2, 11.1%, P = 0.016) as assessed using a CEPI-CT cartridge. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that CKD (odds ratio 7.39, 95% confidence interval 1.38-62.09, P = 0.0183] was the only independent determinant of the poor responders. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the value of CADP-CT or in maximum aggregation of epinephrine-, ADP-, collagen-, and ristocetininduced platelet aggregation. Compared with non-CKD patients, CKD patients had lower response to aspirin therapy as assessed by the PFA-100 system with a CEPI cartridge. On the other hand, the platelet response to dualantiplatelet therapy was not different between CKD and non-CKD patients.