Cocaine sensitizes platelets from HIV+, but not HIV-, donors to activation by ADP.
Whole blood from healthy subjects (HIV-, N = 4) or HIV-positive subjects (HIV+, N = 4) was either left untreated (NT) or was treated with the indicated concentrations of cocaine alone or together with the indicated concentrations of ADP for 30 minutes. Platelet activation in whole blood was assessed via CD62P staining. In the HIV+ samples there was a significant increase in platelet activation following treatment with 10 μM ADP plus cocaine (*** p<0.001 compared to 10 μM ADP alone in the HIV+ samples, ### p<0.001 compared to 10 μM ADP plus cocaine in the HIV- samples). Treatment with 1 μL DMSO for 5 minutes followed by 1 μL dH2O for 30 minutes was used as a vehicle (Veh) control. Data are represented as fold change in CD62P MFI as compared to NT samples and are shown as mean ± SEM.
