Dietary spinach saponin-enriched lipophilic fraction inhibits platelet aggregation and blood coagulation

In this study, we investigated the effect of spinach saponin-enriched lipophilic fraction (SSEF) on collagen (10 μg/mL)-stimulated platelet aggregation in vivo. Dietary SSEF dose-dependently inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation by decreasing thromboxane A₂ production and intracellular Ca²⁺ agonist activity as an aggregation-inducing autacoidal molecule. In addition, SSEF significantly increased the formation of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP, intracellular Ca²⁺ antagonists that are aggregation-inhibiting molecules in collagen-stimulated platelets. These results suggest that SSEF is a potent inhibitor of collagen-stimulated platelet aggregation in vivo. Prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, indicators of blood coagulation, were potently prolonged by dietary SSEF in vivo. These findings suggest that SSEF prolongs the interval time between the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin. Dietary SSEF also inhibited 0.4 M sucrose-induced hemolysis. Accordingly, our data demonstrate that SSEF might be a useful tool for inhibiting platelet activation and blood coagulation in thrombotic diseases.