Ticlopidine, sold under the brand name Ticlid, is a medication used to reduce the risk of thrombotic strokes.

However, because of its rare but serious side effects of neutropenia and thrombotic microangiopathy it was primarily used in patients in whom aspirin was not tolerated, or in whom dual antiplatelet therapy was desirable.

Therefore, patients with stents must take medications after the procedure to help maintain that blood flow.

[1] The most serious side effects associated with ticlopidine are those that affect the blood cells, although these life-threatening complications are relatively rare.

The most common side effects include:[1] Ticlopidine may also cause an increase in cholesterol, triglycerides, liver enzymes, and bleeding.

Studies in rats show that high drug levels could cause toxicity in both mother and fetus, but there are no known birth defects associated with its use.

[1] Ticlopidine inhibits liver CYP2C19[11] and CYP2B6[12] and thus can affect blood levels of medications metabolized by these systems.

Ticlopidine is a tetrahydro-thienopyridine which, when metabolized by the body, irreversibly blocks the P2Y12 component of the ADP receptor on the surface of platelets.

[1] By interfering with platelet function, ticlopidine prevents clots from forming on the inside of blood vessels.

[15] Starting in 1978 the drug was marketed in France under the brand name Ticlid for people at high risk for thrombotic events, who had just come out of heart surgery, were undergoing hemodialysis, had peripheral vascular disease, or who were otherwise at risk for strokes and ischemic heart disease.

Due to the blood cell side effects associated with ticlopidine, researchers for treatments for these conditions have turned to other avenues.