Flow cytometry analysis of platelet cyclooxygenase-2 expression: induction of platelet cyclooxygenase-2 in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting
Karsten Schrör, MD, Institut für Pharmakologie und Klinische Pharmakologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Moorenstr. 5, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. E-mail: kschroer@ uni-duesseldorf.de
Abstract
Summary. There are conflicting reports about the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in human platelets. The present study describes a flow cytometric method for the measurement of platelet COX. Both COX-1 and COX-2 were shown to be expressed in platelets from patients undergoing a coronary artery bypass graft. There was a significant increase in COX-2 expression at day 5 as compared with pre-surgery values (mean fluorescence 12·31 ± 0·88 versus 9·15 ± 0·88; means ± SEM, n = 7, P < 0·05), whereas COX-1 levels did not change (13·45 ± 1·11 versus 12·38 ± 1·41; n = 7, P > 0·05).
