General The role of anticoagulant therapies is to block the activity of coagulation factors. Anticoagulant agents may block specific targets in the coagulation cascade. Approved anticoagulants for clinical use in the acute setting of acute coronary syndrome (ACS)/percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) patients are classified according to their mechanism of action. Thrombin inhibitors are the most…
General Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors—generalities The glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptor is an integrin that mediates the final common pathway of platelet aggregation. In particular, the GP IIb/IIIa receptor is a heterodimer consisting of the alpha IIb and beta3-subunits. By competing with fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor (vWF) for GP IIb/IIIa binding, GP IIb/IIIa antagonists interfere with…
General (including evidence of efficacy) P2Y12 inhibitors Adenosine diphosphate (ADP) is one of the main platelet-activating factors. Platelet ADP signaling pathways are mediated by the P2Y1 and P2Y12 receptors, which play a key role in platelet activation and aggregation processes. The P2Y1 and P2Y12 are G-coupled receptors and are both required for platelet aggregation. However,…
General Antiplatelet therapy Currently, there are three different classes of antiplatelet agents that are approved for the treatment and/or prevention of recurrent events in acute coronary syndrome (ACS)/percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) patients. These include thromboxane (TxA2) antagonists, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) P2Y12 receptor antagonists, and glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors. Aspirin and other thromboxane (TxA2) antagonists Continue…
