Influence of jaundice on aggregation process and deformability of erythrocytes

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Singh, Megha | Kumaravel, M.

Affiliations: Biomedical Engineering Division, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras – 600 036, India

Abstract: The hemorheological parameters, erythrocyte aggregation and deformability are determined in jaundice patients and are compared with that of healthy subjects. The aggregation process is determined by sequential analysis of the He-Ne laser transmission data after passing through erythrocyte suspension at hematocrit 5%. The analysed data is represented by aggregation parameters-aggregate size index, aggregate sedimentation time index, total number of fluctuations, time required for completion of process, effective number of cells and effective cellular sedimentation duration. The erythrocyte deformability is determined by measurement of passage time (reciprocal of deformability) of erythrocyte suspension in phosphate buffered saline at hematocrit 6% through cellulose membranes. The observations show that the aggregation process in jaundice starts earlier, form compact structures which move faster initially and thus reducing the effective number of cells in the observation volume at all time intervals compared to that of normal suspensions. The application of inhomogeneous magnetic field to erythrocyte suspension produces significant effect in total number of fluctuations in normals whereas no such change is observed in jaundice patients. The deformability of the cells is decreased. A combination of these alterations in erythrocyte deformability and aggregation may contribute to increase blood viscosity.

Keywords: Jaundice, sequential analysis, erythrocyte aggregation and deformability, transmitted intensity

DOI: 10.3233/CH-1995-15301

Journal: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 273-290, 1995