Body mass index and platelet function
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect of an increased body mass index on platelet function and signalling
IRAS ID
270850
Contact name
Ingeborg Hers
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 2 months, 0 days
Research summary
People with obesity (body mass index, BMI of >30) are at an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as ischaemic heart disease. Platelets are blood cells which are important in the cessation of bleeding after vessel injury. However, if platelets become activated pathologically, arteries can become occluded leading to a heart attack or stroke. Current drugs prescribed to prevent the occurrence of heart attacks and stroke include aspirin and clopidogrel / ticagrelor (known as dual antiplatelet therapy), which act by reducing the activation of platelets. Multiple studies have reported enhanced platelet activity and reduced effectiveness of dual anti-platelet therapy in patients with increased BMI, suggesting that the platelets from these patients may be more easily activated. Here, we hypothesize that a higher BMI and increased adiposity causes platelets to become hyperactive. We will address this hypothesis by including patients who will be undergoing bariatric surgery at Southmead Hospital (with a BMI of ~50) and healthy controls. We will isolate platelets from the blood of participants and test their response to known agonists in a wide range of standard functional assays, including platelet aggregation, integrin activation and P-selectin expression, and correlate these responses to activation of intracellular signaling pathways and platelet protein expression levels. We will also test platelet function/signaling after bariatric surgery (after 6 weeks and 1 year) in order to determine whether changes are reversible. Comparison of platelets from bariatric patients to healthy controls will allow us to determine the changes that occur in people with obesity and may lead to better targets for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1781
Date of REC Opinion
6 Nov 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion