Red Cell Charge as Affected by Low Viscosity Dextran. ∗

Abstract

Summary

The effects of trauma and LVD on red cell charge were studied electrometri-cally using normal subjects, post-surgical and shock patients. The highest levels of negative colloidal charge were found in a group of 11 shock patients, all characterized by cellular aggregation and microcirculatory derangements. The administration of LVD resulted in increases of negative colloidal charge in all patients. The greatest increases (30%) were found in normal patients. LVD infusion produced a marked improvement in the circulatory status of shock patients, but the negative colloidal charge was increased only by about 5%. The results show that the effect of LVD on agglutination of erythro-cytes depends not only on the magnitude of the surface charge, but also on the physico-chemical nature of the surface which is formed.