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Among patients with stroke, the phenomenon of resistance to treatment with low-dose aspirin acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is quite common. The study included 133 patients hospitalized with acute ischemic stroke. Impedance platelet aggregometry (IPA) and levels of vWF and thromboxane (TXB2) were assessed - with the efficacy of aspirin in daily clinical investigation. Responses to treatment with doses of 150 and 300 mg/day were measured. In addition, we analyzed the response of proinflammatory factors [fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood corpuscles (WBC)], lipids and hemoglobin A1c, which may alter platelet aggregation response to treatment. After a week of treatment at 150 mg/day, ASA patients were classified as laboratory resistant (42%) or sensitive (58%). Values of IPA in the resistant group were significantly higher (472 ± 150 vs. 222 ± 59 AUC, P < 0.0001). In resistant patients were also found higher levels of fibrinogen (3.90 ± 0.89 vs. 3.46 ± 0.74 g/l, P = 0.0046), CRP (6.97 ± 5.66 vs. 4.17 ± 4.03 mg/l, P = 0.0011), WBC (9.2 ± 2.4 vs. 8.3 ± 2.2 × 10/l, P = 0.0207) and lower HDL cholesterol (46 ± 12 vs. 52 ± 15 mg/dl, P = 0.016). This research shows that aspirin resistance assessment by IPA well reflects the clinical status of patients and should be used routinely. Resistance generally fails to 'break' at higher doses, hence our suggestion that patients resistant to low doses of the drug immediately switch to a thienopyridine class antiplatelet agent, for example, clopidogrel.

The associations between 5-HTT-linked polymorphic region (5-HTT-LPR), monoamine oxidase A (MAOA)-LPR and the dimensions of temperament evaluated using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were studied. One hundred healthy volunteers (without psychiatric disorders) were recruited to represent a cross-section of the population of Szczecin (Poland) in terms of sex, age and education. No associations between 5-HTT-LPR and the TCI harm avoidance dimension and between 5-HTT-LPR and the NEO-FFI neuroticism dimension were found. Males carrying the 3-VNTR MAOA gene variant (209 bp) had significantly lower values on the NEO-FFI openness dimension (p = 0.039) and obtained higher scores on the subdimension 3 of the TCI reward dependence (RD3), i.e. attachment vs. detachment (p = 0.005). Individuals carrying the 'short' variant of 5-HTT-LPR had lower values on the reward dependence dimension and the RD4 subdimension (dependence vs. independence) than individuals not carrying the 'short' variant (p = 0.039 and p = 0.011, respectively). Females carrying the 'short' variant had lower values on NS1 (exploratory excitability vs. stoic rigidity) and RD4 (dependence vs. independence) than those not carrying the variant (p = 0.042 and 0.043, respectively). The obtained level of significance with respect to the observed associations between 5-HTT-LPR and the reward dependence scales and subscales and between 5-HTT-LPR and the NS1 subscale are too weak for further interpretation. Our results do not confirm the hypothesis that there is a simple correlation between single gene polymorphisms and a personality trait measured by the TCI and NEO-FFI scales.