Exogenous factors as potential antiplatelet drugs

One of the biggest causes of death in the world is cardiovascular disease. When damage occurs to the vessel wall, the balance in a blood vessel is disturbed. When damage occurs, platelets will be activated and blood clotting will be initiated, which will eventually lead to fibrin formation, which will repair the blood vessel again. This thesis mainly focused on the development of proteins from nature, also called exogenous proteins, which can be used as future antiplatelet drugs. For this purpose, several proteins from ticks and snakes were chemically synthesized and tested in platelet aggregation assays and thrombus formation under flow conditions.One of the proteins investigated was disagregin, a protein from tick saliva. Disagregin reduced platelet aggregation and fibrin formation. After follow-up research, disagregin could possibly be used in the clinic in the future. The results of this thesis provide new insights into exogenous factors as potential antiplatelet agents. Despite the fact that follow-up research is still needed, in the future, with the help of nature, we can hopefully give patients a better treatment in acute coronary syndrome.