Long-term effects of erythropoietin on platelet serotonin storage and platelet aggregation in hemodialysis patients with reference to ketanserin treatment

Correction of uremic platelet serotonin (5-HT) storage pool deficiency is one of the very early hemostatic effects of erythropoietin (Epo) therapy. In this work, platelet 5-HT with relation to primary hemostasis was studied in 15 hemodialysis patients treated with Epo for 8 months. Moreover, effects of ketanserin, a blocker of platelet and vascular smooth muscle cell 5-HT2A receptors, in these patients were followed. The parameters studied were compared with relevant values in healthy controls and in hemodialysis patients not treated with Epo, and remeasured in the long-term Epo patients after a 14-day oral ketanserin trial. Platelet 5-HT content in the eighth month of Epo therapy was not different from the one in untreated patients. Ristocetin- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation were enhanced in comparison with both control groups, as opposed to unaltered response to ADP and arachidonic acid. Fibrinogen concentration was lower than in the untreated group. An inverse correlation between ADP-induced platelet aggregation and the skin bleeding time (r = -0.536, p<0.05) and a positive one between the former and platelet 5-HT (r = 0.644, p<0.01) were found. Platelet count correlated positively with both platelet 5-HT (r = 0.823, p<0.0002) and ADP-induced platelet aggregation (r = 0.596, p<0.02). Ketanserin produced a decrease in ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation, fibrinogen, and prolongation of the bleeding time. The first two of the changes correlated positively with their pre-ketanserin values (r = 0.923, p<0.00001 and r = 0.839, p<0.0001, respectively). Post-ketanserin, positive correlations between depressed ristocetin- and arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation (r = 0.760, p<0.005), and between collagen- and corresponding values of arachidonic acid- (r = 0.622, p<0.02), ADP-induced platelet aggregation (r = 0.396, p <0.01), and platelet 5-HT (r = 0.654, p<0.05) were found. Efficient hemostasis in hemodialysis patients on protracted Epo therapy is, in part, dependent on enhanced platelet aggregability. Correction of platelet 5-HT storage pool deficiency is not evident in this stage but 5-HT still influences complex mechanisms of primary hemostasis. Ketanserin is of anticoagulant value in these patients but its effects must be weighted against possible exacerbation of the anemia. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.