Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is increasingly employed in the secondary prophylaxis of thromboembolic diseases, due to its capacity to inhibit platelet aggregation. The anti-aggregatory effect of ASA on platelets can be inhibited in vitro by a high concentration of salicylic acid (SA). SA is generated in vivo upon ASA administration, and the SA thus formed might impair the antiplatelet effect of ASA. To assess this possibility, the platelet response to ASA was tested in healthy volunteers before and after medication for 1 week with ASA 1 g t.i.d., with SA 1 g t.i.d., and with the SA derivative diflunisal 0.5 g b.i.d. Pre-medication test doses of 1 g ASA always inhibited platelet aggregation in vivo. Neither treatment with SA nor diflunisal, producing plasma steady-state concentrations of about 1.0 and 0.35 mmol/l, respectively, inhibited platelet aggregation. Nor did administration of SA, diflunisal or ASA itself impair the anti-aggregatory effect of a fresh test dose of ASA. ASA inhibited platelet aggregation in vitro at 0.03 mmol/l, whereas SA and diflunisal failed to impair platelet aggregation until concentrations exceeding 2.0 and 0.5 mmol/l, respectively, were reached. These findings make it unlikely that SA formed upon administration of ASA would impair the anti-aggregating capacity of ASA.