French colleagues of Conley's identified an elderly Frenchman with a mild bleeding disorder whose platelets did not respond to a common activation signal. When Conley and her colleagues examined DNA and blood samples from the patient they discovered that one copy of the P2Y 12 gene contained mutations and the other copy of the gene was inexplicably turned off. He does not have a healthy copy of this receptor, and thus his wounds heal slowly. Otherwise he is very healthy and does not appear to have any obvious neurological problems. Based on these observations, we would not expect a drug that blocked P2Y 12 to have many side effects, says Conley.
Platelets are the smallest human blood cell and are essential for wound healing.
The cells circulate through the blood in an inactive form until they encounter a damaged blood vessel. An injury activates platelets and causes them to stick together and create a cellular bandage that plugs the wound. But platelets that easily form clumps are particularly dangerous to people with narrowed arteries, placing a premium on anti-platelet drugs. . . . Lee, M. H. et al . Berge, K.E. et al .