Affiliations: Imperial College School of Medicine, London SW7 2AZ, UK | Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA | Department of Physiology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr. M.W. Rampling, Imperial College Medical School, South Kensington, London SW7 2AZ, UK. Tel.: 020 8594 3187; Fax: 020 8594 3169; E‐mail: m.rampling@imperial.ac.uk.
Abstract: The reversible aggregation of red blood cells (RBC) into linear and three‐dimensional structures continues to be of basic science and clinical interest: RBC aggregation affects low shear blood viscosity and microvascular flow dynamics, and can be markedly enhanced in several clinical states. Until fairly recently, most research efforts were focused on relations between suspending medium composition (i.e., protein levels, polymer type and concentration) and aggregate formation. However, there is now an increasing amount of experimental evidence indicating that RBC cellular properties can markedly affect aggregation, with the term “RBC aggregability” coined to describe the cell's intrinsic tendency to aggregate. Variations of aggregability can be large, with some changes of aggregation substantially greater than those resulting from pathologic states. The present review provides a brief overview of this topic, and includes such areas as donor‐to‐donor variations, polymer–plasma correlations, effects of RBC age, effects of enzymatic treatment, and current developments related to the mechanisms involved in RBC aggregation.
