A New Rapid Method to Measure Human Platelet Cholesterol: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Platelet cholesterol (PC) could be used to assess “tissue” cholesterol of patients with vascular disease. However, the methods available so far to measure PC involve a complex extraction process. We developed a rapid method to measure PC and assessed its correlation with serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-C/HDL-C ratio, triglycerides (TG), and non-HDL-C. Methods: We assessed repeatability (20 times, 3 participants) and reproducibility (8 times, 2 participants). A group of 47 healthy participants was studied. Blood was collected to analyze serum TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, and TG. Citrated blood was used to prepare a platelet pellet. A “clear soup” was produced (by disrupting this pellet using freeze–thaw and sonication cycles) and used to measure PC. Results: Repeatability of PC showed a coefficient of variation (CV) of 4.8%. The reproducibility of PC over a period of 2 months was CV 7.5% and 8.1% (8 measurements for 2 participants). The PC of participants with serum LDL-C >2.6 mmol/L (treatment goal recommended by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III) was 377 ± 120 μmol/1012 platelets (n = 25). There was a significant correlation (Spearman, correlation coefficient) of PC (n = 25) with serum LDL-C (r s = 0.45, P = .02), LDL-C/HDL-C (r s = 0.45, P = .02), TG (r s = 0.43, P = .03), and non-HDL-C (r s = 0.53, P = .007). Conclusion: This technique of measuring PC has the advantage of being reproducible, fast, and simpler than previous methods. Thus, it may be useful for multiple sampling when investigating changes in PC in hypercholesterolemic patients. More extensive evaluation is necessary.