This study investigates the influence of dipyridamole on platelet aggregation as evaluated by a single agonist or a pair of agonists in human platelet rich plasma and whole blood. Dipyridamole up to 30 microM was not found to influence the platelet aggregation of platelet rich plasma or whole blood; aspirin (100 microM), on the contrary, did inhibit platelet aggregation. The inhibition of platelet aggregation by aspirin could be reversed by using high concentrations of agonists or pairs of agonists. In this model dipyridamole inhibited platelet aggregation in both platelet rich plasma and whole blood in a dose-dependent fashion. Thromboxane A2 was less than 10% of controls in aspirin-treated PRP stimulated with low or high concentrations of collagen or with a pair of agonists. This study suggests that dipyridamole has direct antiplatelet activity in platelet rich plasma and whole blood when the cyclooxygenase pathway is blocked by aspirin.