The biggest risks for cardiovascular disease are smoking and poor diet. However, different people are more susceptible to heart disease based on very slight differences in their genes, called variants. While there have been ...
Sep 04, 2019
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Platelets—tiny cells critical for blood clotting—could be the key to protecting against brain damage occurring during pregnancy or around the time of birth.
Aug 02, 2019
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Various diseases can cause hemorrhages or thromboses, sometimes fatal, resulting in particular from complications during surgery. This may take the form of a dysfunction of the platelets (hemostasis), the blood cells that ...
Jun 21, 2019
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Under normal, healthy circulatory conditions, the von Willebrand Factor (vWF) keeps to itself. The large and mysterious multimeric glycoprotein moves through the blood, balled up tightly, its reaction sites unexposed. But ...
May 21, 2019
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Have you ever been in a classroom and wondered to yourself whether the information being presented could be wrong?
May 03, 2019
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An experimental antiplatelet compound inhibited clot formation without increasing bleeding, a common and potentially dangerous side effect of current anticlotting therapies, according to new phase I research in Arteriosclerosis, ...
Apr 18, 2019
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The nation's longest-running multigenerational study of cardiovascular disease has received a $38 million grant that will help researchers explore the biology of aging.
Apr 17, 2019
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Researchers at the University of Sydney have used biomechanical engineering techniques to unlock the mystery surrounding the mechanical forces that influence blood clotting.
Apr 02, 2019
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Blood platelets that interact with liver cells and immune cells play a major role in the development of fatty liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver inflammation and liver cancer, scientists from the German Cancer Research ...
Apr 01, 2019
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A discovery about how exercise improves brain function could be harnessed for research into ageing, and boosting learning and memory.
Mar 26, 2019
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Platelets, or thrombocytes (from Greek θρόμβος, "clot" and κύτος, "cell"), are small, irregularly shaped clear cell fragments (i.e. cells that do not have a nucleus containing DNA), 2–3 µm in diameter, which are derived from fragmentation of precursor megakaryocytes. The average lifespan of a platelet is normally just 5 to 9 days. Platelets are a natural source of growth factors. They circulate in the blood of mammals and are involved in hemostasis, leading to the formation of blood clots.
If the number of platelets is too low, excessive bleeding can occur. However, if the number of platelets is too high, blood clots can form (thrombosis), which may obstruct blood vessels and result in such events as a stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism or the blockage of blood vessels to other parts of the body, such as the extremities of the arms or legs. An abnormality or disease of the platelets is called a thrombocytopathy, which could be either a low number of platelets (thrombocytopenia), a decrease in function of platelets (thrombasthenia), or an increase in the number of platelets (thrombocytosis). There are disorders that reduce the number of platelets, such as heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) that typically cause thromboses, or clots, instead of bleeding.
Platelets release a multitude of growth factors including Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), a potent chemotactic agent, and TGF beta, which stimulates the deposition of extracellular matrix. Both of these growth factors have been shown to play a significant role in the repair and regeneration of connective tissues. Other healing-associated growth factors produced by platelets include basic fibroblast growth factor, insulin-like growth factor 1, platelet-derived epidermal growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor. Local application of these factors in increased concentrations through Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used as an adjunct to wound healing for several decades.
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