Abstract
Vasodilated guinea pig livers were perfused with normal erythrocytes and echinocytes suspended in isoviscous high- and low-molecular-weight dextran solutions. The relative flow resistance of these suspensions and the oxygen uptake of the livers were then determined. The relative flow resistance of the echinocytes that were suspended in high-molecular-weight dextran, however, was significantly higher than that of any other red cell suspension. The oxygen uptake was independent of the perfusion media.
It is proposed that high-molecular-weight dextran induces echinocytes to attach to one another, and that this clumping together, and shape-transformation of red cells, hinders their flow in the vasodilated liver.
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