Aspirin resistance in patients with type II diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND Diabetic patients exhibit platelet hyperreactivity, which renders them resistant to antithrombotic treatments. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and predictors of aspirin resistance in diabetic patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 93 diabetic and 37 non-diabetic participants were included into the study. Aspirin resistance was measured with a whole-blood desktop platelet function analyzer (PFA-100) with an epinephrine agonist. RESULTS Altogether 41.9% patients with DM were aspirin non-responders. Aspirin resistance was observed in 43.2% of non-diabetic patients (p = 0.89). Presence of diabetes mellitus had no effect on aspirin response (RR 0.95 (95% CI 0.44-2.05), p = 0.89) in the whole study population. Hypercholesterolemia was the only predictor of aspirin resistance in multivariate analysis in diabetic patients (RR 3.09 (95% CI 1.17-8.16), p = 0.023). CONCLUSION The prevalence of aspirin resistance is comparable in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Hypercholesterolemia is the only independent predictor of aspirin resistance in diabetic patients.