Fig. 3.

Decreased platelet responsiveness after in vivo treatment by pantethine. Platelets were isolated from healthy and in PbA-infected mice on day 6 after infection; in both conditions, mice received either pantethine or saline injections (n = 6 in each group). (A) fibrinogen-Cy5 binding to nonactivated or thrombin-activated platelets. (B) platelet adhesion to collagen-coated plates. Adherent platelets were quantified by phosphatase activity and expressed as percentage of the total platelet population. (C) platelet activation was associated with an increase in exofacial sulfhydryl content; the increase was significantly weaker in platelets from pantethine-treated mice than in controls. A significant decrease of exofacial sulfhydryls by pantethine treatment was observed also in PbA-infected mice. Sulfhydryl content is expressed as percentage of control. Open bars, untreated; hatched bars, pantethine treatment. +, activated and/or infected; −, nonactivated and/or noninfected; =, nonapplicable. Results are means ± SD. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01.