Aspirin treatment does not increase microhemorrhage size in young or aged mice

• Published in: PloS one 2019-01, Vol.14 (1), p.e0204295-e0204295
• Main Authors: Chan, Sandy, Brophy, Morgan, Nishimura, Nozomi, Schaffer, Chris B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Age Factors; Aging; Aging - physiology; Analgesics; Animals; Anticoagulants; Arterioles; Arterioles - drug effects; Arterioles - pathology; Arterioles - surgery; Aspirin; Aspirin - administration & dosage; Aspirin - adverse effects; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomedical engineering; Bleeding; Blood; Blood cells; Blood plasma; Blood platelets; Brain; Brain damage; Cerebral Cortex - blood supply; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Cerebral Hemorrhage - etiology; Cerebral Hemorrhage - pathology; Cerebral Hemorrhage - physiopathology; Cognitive ability; Coronary artery; Cortex; Disease Models, Animal; Drinking water; Engineering; Engineering and Technology; Erythrocytes; Female; Hematoma; Hematoma, Subdural, Intracranial - diagnosis; Hematoma, Subdural, Intracranial - etiology; Hematoma, Subdural, Intracranial - pathology; Hemorrhage; Hemostasis - drug effects; Heparin; Humans; Intravenous administration; Laboratory animals; Laser ablation; Lasers; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurological diseases; Neurology; Occlusion; Patient outcomes; Physiology; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors - administration & dosage; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors - adverse effects; Prevention; Rupturing; Severity of Illness Index; Stroke; Surgery; Tissues
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204295

Microhemorrhages are common in the aging brain and are thought to contribute to cognitive decline and the development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. Chronic aspirin therapy is widespread in older individuals and decreases the risk of coronary artery occlusions and stroke. There remains a concern that such aspirin usage may prolong bleeding after a vessel rupture in the brain, leading to larger bleeds that cause more damage to the surrounding tissue. Here, we aimed to understand the influence of aspirin usage on the size of cortical microhemorrhages and explored the impact of age. We used femtosecond laser ablation to rupture arterioles in the cortex of both young (2-5 months old) and aged (18-29 months old) mice dosed on aspirin in their drinking water and measured the extent of penetration of both red blood cells and blood plasma into the surrounding tissue. We found no difference in microhemorrhage size for both young and aged mice dosed on aspirin, as compared to controls (hematoma diameter = 104 +/- 39 (97 +/- 38) μm in controls and 109 +/- 25 (101 +/- 28) μm in aspirin-treated young (aged) mice; mean +/- SD). In contrast, young mice treated with intravenous heparin had an increased hematoma diameter of 136 +/- 44 μm. These data suggest that aspirin does not increase the size of microhemorrhages, supporting the safety of aspirin usage.