Triflavin Inhibits Platelet-Induced Vasoconstriction in De-endothelialized Aorta

Abstract

Abstract Triflavin, a 7.5-kD cysteine-rich polypeptide purified from Trimeresurus favoviridis snake venom, belongs to a family of Arg-Gly-Asp-(RGD)–containing peptides, termed disintegrins. In this study, aggregating human platelets dose- dependently induced vasoconstriction in de-endothelialized isolated rat thoracic aortas. At 5×10 7 cells per milliliter, platelets induced a peak tension averaging 65±7.2% of the tension induced by phenylephrine (10 μmol/L). The relative effectiveness of RGD-containing peptides (including venom peptides triflavin and trigramin, small RGD synthetic peptides Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser [GRGDS], Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Phe [GRGDF], and Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser-Pro-Lys [GRGDSPK]) was examined by testing the inhibitory effect on aggregating platelet-induced vasoconstriction in de-endothelialized aorta. Triflavin (1 μmol/L) significantly inhibited the platelet-induced vasoconstriction, whereas neither trigramin (10 μmol/L) nor small RGD peptides (2 mmol/L) (ie, GRGDS, GRGDF, and GRGDSPK) showed any significant effect. The release of serotonin and the formation of thromboxane A 2 from aggregating platelets were both significantly inhibited by triflavin (2 μmol/L), whereas trigramin and small RGD-containing peptides showed no significant effect. On scanning electron micrographs of de-endothelialized aorta, aggregating platelets adhered to the subendothelium, with loss of their discoid shape, to form irregular spheres with pseudopod extensions. Triflavin (2 μmol/L) markedly reduced the adhesion of platelets to the subendothelium in the same aorta. Furthermore, RGD-containing peptides (including triflavin, trigramin, and small RGD-containing peptides) inhibited the adhesion of 10 μg/mL collagen-activated platelets to extracellular matrices (ie, fibronectin, vitronectin, and von Willebrand factor). It is concluded that the marked ability of triflavin to inhibit aggregating platelet-induced vasoconstriction in de-endothelialized aorta compared with other RGD-containing peptides (including trigramin), may be due at least partly to triflavin’s efficiently preventing the activation of platelets subsequent to inhibition of serotonin release and thromboxane A 2 formation. However, the different abilities of triflavin compared with other RGD-containing peptides was not related to the ability to inhibit adhesion of platelets to extracellular matrices. Therefore, from the results of this study, it appears that triflavin may be a useful therapeutic agent for the treatment of thromboembolism and its associated angiospasm.