ADP-induced platelet aggregation after addition of tramadol in vitro in fed and fasted horses plasma

Adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation in fed and fasted horses after addition of tramadol hydrochloride was evaluated in vitro. On 10 horses citrated blood samples were collected 2 h after feeding (fed animals) and 21 h after feeding (fasted animals). Final concentrations of ADP 1 and 0.5 μM, and tramadol hydrochloride (1, 15, 30, 45 and 60 min after the addition of tramadol) were used to determine the maximum degree and initial velocity of platelet aggregation. Repeated measures multifactor analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to evaluate the effect of feeding/fasting condition, ADP concentration and addition of tramadol. Findings showed statistical differences (P ⩽ 0.05) on studied parameters after addition of tramadol to different ADP concentrations in fed and fasted horses. The clinical relevance of these results is that tramadol provides many advantages as a therapeutic option; in fact, it is an inexpensive and a relatively new analgesic in equine veterinary medicine. Further investigations would be appropriate to compare the effects of different opioids but also using different concentrations of tramadol associated with other drugs in order to have substances which can regulate the functional activity of the platelets and to extend the knowledges on equine platelet aggregation.