Summary
ADP plays a key role in platelet aggregation and the enzymatic removal of this nucleotide
may be important in the pathogenesis of intravascular thrombosis and atherosclerosis.
Aortic intima extracts have ADPase activity and is able to remove small quantities
of ADP efficiently. ADPase activity was assayed by measuring the catabolism of 2 μM
14C-ADP (final concentration) by the tissue extracts. Extracts prepared from normal,
moderately and severely atherosclerotic human aorta intimas showed a significant progressive
decrease in ADPase activity with increasing atherosclerosis. ADPase activity of the
arch, thoracic and abdominal regions of normal aortas did not vary significantly,
and thus did not correlate with the anatomical distribution of atherosclerosis. Vascular
ADPase activity seems relevant in thrombogenesis since it may be a link between blood
platelets and blood vessel wall interaction.