Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation - Volume 37, issue 4

Authors: Wang, Jinhua | Tang, Zhi-yu | Ka, Weibo | Sun, DaGong | Yao, Weijuan | Wen, ZongYao | Chien, Shu

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Erythroblasts were obtained from murine spleen. After cultured for 12 hr, the cells were divided into four groups with the use of the following cytokines in culture: EPO, EPO+SCF, EPO+IL-3, and EPO+IL-3+SCF. Cell proliferation assay was done. Apoptosis rates were obtained by using a flow cytometer. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was assessed in flow cytometry (FCM) by labeling with rhodamine 123. Mitochondrial enzyme activity (MEA) was evaluated with MTT colorimetric assay. The cells were labeled with Fluo-3/Am Ester and Ca2+ concentration was measured. The expression of Bax mRNA and Bcl-2 mRNA was analyzed by RT-PCR. At same time, the …expression of Bax and Bcl-2 was analyzed by western blotting. Our results showed that IL-3 and SCF have synergistic effects with EPO on the proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of erythroid progenitors. Show more

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 291-299, 2007

Authors: Pehlivanoglu, B. | Dikmenoglu, N. | Balkanci, D.Z.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the effect of acute mental stress on erythrocyte deformability (ED) in women during different phases of the menstrual cycle and to compare the results with men. For this purpose, healthy males (n=10) and females (n=10) (during follicular and luteal phases) underwent Stroop color-word interference and cold pressor tests. Hemoglobin, hematocrit and leukocyte counts before and after this stress test revealed no difference in either group; erythrocyte sedimentation rate was significantly lower in the post-test samples in all. In all groups erythrocyte filtration time was significantly higher and thus ED was significantly lower after the stress …test (mean±SEM, PRE-TEST: follicular: 3.08±0.05; luteal: 2.07±0.05; men: 2.9±0.05) (POST-TEST: follicular: 4.5±0.07; luteal: 4.1±0.07; men: 4.39±0.1). ED was appreciably influenced by gender and menstrual cycle. Women at the luteal phase had better ED compared to both women at the follicular phase and men, the effect being especially pronounced in the pre-test samples. Our results suggest that stress may induce cardiovascular diseases by lowering ED in both genders. The effect of stress on ED varies with gender and during different phases of the menstrual cycle, which may be explained by variations in the sex hormones. Show more

Keywords: Erythrocyte deformability, stress, gender, menstrual cycle, cortisol, metanephrine, vanillylmandelic acid

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 301-308, 2007

Authors: Solá, E. | Vayá, A. | Simó, M. | Hernández-Mijares, A. | Morillas, C. | España, F. | Estellés, A. | Corella, D.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Plasma viscosity (PV) and blood viscosity (BV) have been scarcely evaluated in morbid obese patients with no other concomitant cardiovascular risk factors. Contradictory results have been published regarding the influence of insulin resistance on these rheological parameters in obesity. In 67 severe or morbid obese patients without other cardiovascular risk factors (51 women and 11 men, aged 34±11 years), fibrinogen, PV and BV at native (nBV) and corrected 45% hematocrit (cBV) have been determined, and insulin resistance has been calculated with homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index, in basal conditions and after a three month diet period. The same determinations were …performed in 67 healthy volunteers (45 women, 22 men, aged 32±10 years) at baseline and three months later. When cases and controls were compared, obese patients showed higher fibrinogen levels (P<0.001), PV (P=0.050) and cBV (P=0.035), and showed a higher insulin resistance than the control group (P<0.001). Differences in PV were maintained after adjusting for BMI (P=0.001), but disappeared after adjusting for HOMA (P=0.391) fibrinogen (P=0.367) and LDL-chol (P=0.097). Differences between obese patients and the control group for cBV disappeared after adjusting for BMI (P=0.739), HOMA (P=0.744), fibrinogen (P=0.907), LDL-chol (P=0.283) and PV (P=0.112). The achieved weight loss (8.7±3.53%) was not accompanied by any changes in these rheological parameters (P>0.050). Obese patients show increased fibrinogen levels, PV and cBV. These rheological disturbances seem to be associated with insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, and do not seem to improve with moderate weight loss. Show more

Keywords: Plasma viscosity, blood viscosity, obesity, hemorheology

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 309-318, 2007

Authors: Shin, S. | Hou, J.X. | Suh, J.S. | Singh, M.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The deformability of erythrocytes primarily depends on the composition of the membrane and cytoplasm, which consist of hemoglobin and other constituents. Current techniques that measure erythrocyte deformability often require labor-intensive and time-consuming measurement processes. This article describes a newly developed microfluidic ektacytometer (RheoScan-D) that adopts advanced microfluidic rheometry and conventional laser-diffraction technique to determine the deformability of erythrocytes. Experiments are carried out to measure changes in deformability by treating erythrocytes in chemical agents with various concentrations (0, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mM) of hydrogen peroxide, glutaraldehyde and diamide, and also by incubating erythrocytes at 49°C for various time intervals (0, …5, 10 and 30 min), which affect the deformability through interaction with various constituents of erythrocytes. The measured Elongation Index (EI) of normal erythrocytes, a parameter directly related to erythrocyte deformability, at various shear stresses is in excellent agreement with those measured by a conventional ektacytometer (LORCA). The present technique is sensitive in detecting changes as produced by various chemical agents and high temperature. Alterations produced by hydrogen peroxide are the minimum and the maximums are produced by diamide treatment. Show more

Keywords: Erythrocyte, deformability, microfluidics, ektacytometer, hardening

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 319-328, 2007

Authors: Franke, R.P. | Fuhrmann, R. | Park, J.-W. | Rickert, D. | Hiebl, B. | Jung, F.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Radiographic contrast media (RCM) can affect the morphology of red blood cells in very different ways but research on how they affect endothelial cell morphology is rudimentary. The effect of two conventional RCMs on human umbilical venous cells over the short term was studied in vitro under static conditions. Cell circumference length, the number of dissolved cell contacts and the number of denuded subendothelial matrix areas were interactively quantified by a computer imaging system after histochemical processing. 1.5 minutes after RCM exposure a significant effect of both RCMs on cell circumference length (CCL) compared to the control cells was evident …(p=0.0001 each). The increase after iodixanol was larger than after iomeprol (p=0.0087). After five minutes of exposure, the CCL of exposed cells were significantly larger than those of control cells (p<0.0001 each). The CCL after exposure hardly differed anymore at that time (iomeprol/iodixanol: p=0.0547), though cells exposed to iomeprol tended to be bigger. After both iomeprol (p<0.0001) and iodixanol (p=0.0018), the number of dissolved cell contacts (DCC) increased compared to the control cells. The increases after either RCM were similar (p=0.9633). After five minutes of RCM exposure, the number of DCC was significantly higher than for the control cells (control/iomeprol: p<0.0001; control/iodixanol: p=0.0012). After exposure to iodixanol, significantly fewer DCC were recorded than after iomeprol (p=0.0018). At 1.5 minutes after RCM exposure, the number of denuded subendothelial matrix areas (DSMA) in the cell layer increased both after iomeprol (p<0.0002) and after iodixanol (p=0.0002) compared to the control cells. The increases with the two RCMs were similar (p=0.8618). After five minutes of exposure, the number of DSMA in the cell layer was significantly higher than for the control cells (control/iomeprol: p<0.0001; control/iodixanol: p=0.0015). However, after iodixanol significantly fewer DSMA were recorded than after iomeprol (iomeprol/iodixanol: p=0.0353). The number of dissolved cell/cell contacts and the number of denuded subendothelial matrix areas in the confluent endothelial layer were significantly greater after exposing the endothelial cells for five minutes to iomeprol than after iodixanol. Show more

Keywords: Radiographic contrast media, endothelium, cytoskeleton

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 329-338, 2007

Authors: Lo Presti, Rosalia | D'Amico, Teresa | Montana, Maria | Canino, Baldassare | Amodeo, Gabriella | Tozzi Ciancarelli, Maria Giuliana | Caimi, Gregorio

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Oxidative stress has probably a role in coronary heart disease (CHD), but studies focused on the behaviour of oxidative status in patients with stable CHD have obtained controversial results. On the other hand, an increased release of leukocyte elastase is considered a marker of CHD. Exercise can induce oxidative stress and leukocyte activation, so the aim of this study was to evaluate oxidative status and plasma elastase level in a group of subjects with stable coronary heart disease (CHD), at baseline and during an exercise test. We enrolled 15 patients with previous acute myocardial infarction, all treated with statins and …platelet antiaggregating agents. As parameters of oxidative status we determined the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and total antioxidant status (TAS). The exercise test was performed according to the Bruce protocol. At baseline, elastase level was higher in CHD subjects than in normal controls and during the exercise test it increased in both groups in comparison with basal values. Regarding oxidative status, only TAS was slightly lower in CHD subjects than in normal controls. In both groups, during exercise test, no parameter of oxidative status was significantly different compared to basal values. In conclusion, CHD patients showed, at rest, an abnormal neutrophil activation and a lower antioxidant status. The exercise test further activated neutrophils but did not influence oxidative status. The absence of a marked oxidative stress in our patients may be partly due to the pharmacological treatment, which apparently did not influence the abnormal leukocyte activation. Show more

Keywords: Exercise test, coronary heart disease, oxidative status, plasma elastase

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 339-345, 2007

Authors: Peto, K. | Nemeth, N. | Brath, E. | Takacs, I.E. | Baskurt, O.K. | Meiselman, H.J. | Furka, I. | Miko, I.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Changes in hemorheological parameters were studied in dogs following unilateral renal artery clamping (45-minute ischemia then reperfusion), with and without preoperative administration of allopurinol. Sham-operated animals were also evaluated. Blood samples were collected preoperatively, at beginning and at 30, 60 and 120 minutes of reperfusion, then on the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th days. Filtration properties of erythrocytes (relative cell transit time, RCTT), whole blood and plasma viscosity (WBV, PV), fibrinogen level and hematology parameter were determined. RCTT significantly increased for both ischemic groups at 30 minutes of reperfusion, and remained elevated on the 1st and 2nd postoperative days; these …changes were abolished by allopurinol pretreatment. WBV and hematocrit increased on the 1st day, and PV and fibrinogen level showed elevation on 1st–5th postoperative days. We thus conclude that decreases of RBC deformability (i.e., higher RCTT) were characteristic and specific on early postoperative days after renal ischemia–reperfusion and that these alterations were prevented by pre-ischemia administration of allopurinol. Show more

Keywords: Kidney, red blood cell, renal ischemia–reperfusion, red blood cell deformability, blood viscosity

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 347-358, 2007

Article Type: Other

Citation: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 359-363, 2007