Labile aggregation stimulating substance, free fatty acids, and platelet aggregation.

Labile aggregation stimulating substance (LASS), an intermediate produced during platelet biosynthesis of PGE2 and PGF2alpha, acts as a physiologic intercellular messenger to promote platelet aggregation and the release reaction. The activity is formed by intact cells after physiologic stimulation or can be generated from platelet membrane fractions after combination with arachidonate. In the present investigation, small amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids added to an incubation mixture of platelet microsomes and arachidonate were found to significantly inhibit subsequent platelet aggregation. Saturated and mono-unsaturated fatty acids in the same concentrations were without effect. However, in higher concentrations mono-unsaturated fatty acids were found to be inhibitory and stearic acid was found to enhance subsequent platelet aggregation. The inhibition caused by the polyunsaturated fatty acid, linoleate, was shown to be the result of an effect on the production of LASS through an interaction with the platelet enzyme responsible for conversion of arachidonate to LASS. In contrast, stearic acid was found to enhance platelet aggregation by acting on the platelets and not directly on LASS production. The results suggest that small changes in the fatty acid composition of platelet phospholipids could significantly influence platelet reactivity.