ADAMTS13 Levels Support Hypothesis of Distinct Mechanistic Pathways for Early Versus Late-Onset of Thienopyridine-Associated Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP).

Background: Ticlopidine and clopidogrel, thienopyridine derivatives used for cerebrovascular events and coronary artery syndromes, are the first and third most common causes of drug-related TTP reported to the FDA. Ticlopine-associated TTP has been characterized as having later onset, having higher relapse rates, and being more responsive to plasmapheresis—findings associated with ADAMTS13-deficiency. Based on a limited number of ADAMTS13 measurements, Moake (NEJM 2002) and Bennett (NEJM 2000) speculated that antibody-mediated ADAMTS13-deficiency appeared to be the cause of both ticlopidine- and clopidogrel-associated TTP.

Methods: Clinical and ADAMTS13 laboratory data for TTP associated with ticlopidine (n=116 and 12 cases, respectively) and clopidogrel (n= 46 and 7 cases, respectively) were reviewed.

Results: Clinical Evaluation: Mortality of ticlopidine-associated TTP was 34.5%. Mortality of clopidogrel-associated TTP was 22.2%. Overall moretlaity rate was 31%. Among 162 thienopyridine-associated TTP cases, late-onset TTP (89% of the cases) occurred after > 5 days of thienopyridine use and was 4-times more common with ticlopidine than clopidogrel. Early onset TTP (11% of the cases) occurred within 5-days of thienopyridine initiation and was 4-times less common with ticlopidine than clopidogrel. Laboratory Evaluation: Among 12-ticlopidine and 7-clopidogrel-associated TTP patients, laboratory assays prior to plasmapheresis identified severe ADAMTS13 deficiency 3.3-fold more often with ticlopidine (92% versus 29%, p < 0.01) and presence of inhibitory autoantibody almost 3-fold more common with ticlopidine (83% vs 30%) than clopidogrel. Among thienopyridine-associated TTP cases, patients with severe ADAMTS13-deficiency (<5% of normal) experienced higher relapses rates (15% versus 0%).

Conclusions: Contrary to previously proposed mechanistic hypotheses, thienopyridine-associated TTP appears to manifest as an ADAMTS13-deficiency mediated syndrome (primarily with > 5 days of ticlopidine) that has occasional relapses and an ADAMTS13-normal syndrome (primarily with < 5 days of clopidogrel) that is not associated with relapse. Although in the same drug class, the metabolites of ticlopidine and clopidogrel are different, which may account for the distinct mechanistic pathways. Immunologically mediated ADAMTS13 -deficient TTP, like ticlopidine-associated TTP, may result from immunogenic exposures that occurred 1 to 2 weeks prior to syndrome onset. In contrast, ADAMTS13-normal TTP cases, like clopidogrel-associated TTP, may result from recent exposure that occurred within 5 days prior to TTP onset leading to direct endothelial cell injury.