Affiliations: Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland | Chair of Pharmacology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland | Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
Note: [] Corresponding author: Maria Fornal, Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, ul. Sniadeckich 10, 31-351 Kraków, Poland. Tel.: +48 12 424 8800; Fax: +48 12 424 8854; E-mail: Fornal@ su.krakow.pl.
Abstract: Rheological properties of erythrocytes from patients with high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) were analyzed in relation to individual patient risk factors as well as to the medication. Additionally, comparative statistical analysis was performed considering plasma concentration of the selected mediators of vascular endothelium: 6-keto-prostaglandin F1α (PGF1α), sVCAM-1 and E-selectin adhesion molecules and interleukin-6 (IL-6). It was found that antihypertensive therapy with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) is accompanied by improvement of RBC rheology: the increase of deformability and the decrease of aggregability. This improvement is probably mediated by endothelial prostacyclin and nitric oxide which are generated by ACEI. A correlation was observed between RBC deformability/aggregability and the patient's hematocrit level, what implicates that the hematocrit level should be explicitly taken into consideration when investigating rheological properties of erythrocytes. A strong relationship was also found between the plasma concentration of sVCAM-1 and patient's age.
