Determining why anticlotting drugs don’t work well in some people

Platelet response phenotyping to improve anti-thrombotic therapy

Professor Timothy Warner is studying why some people with heart and circulatory conditions do not respond well to anti-clotting drugs that protect them from heart attacks and strokes. Atherosclerosis, when arteries become ‘furred up’ with fatty plaques, can lead to blood clots inside blood vessels (thrombosis), heart attacks and strokes. People most at risk are given protective anti-clotting drugs, which stop platelets sticking together to form blood clots. But some patients, particularly those with diabetes or chronic kidney disease have shorter lived platelets. This means that antiplatelet drugs are less effective and these people are at increased risk of developing thrombosis. In this project, Professor Warner will work out new anti-clotting treatment approaches that could best protect people with these conditions. He will use advanced imaging techniques coupled with measures of platelet reactivity to work out how platelets respond to drugs. He will work out how the life span of platelets circulating in the blood is linked to the effectiveness of anti-clotting drugs. Understanding how platelet life span dictates whether drugs protect against heart attacks and strokes could help us tailor treatments so we better protect those most at risk.