Influence of hematocrit on erythrocyte aggregation kinetics for suspensions of red blood cells in autologous plasma

Abstract

The influence of hematocrit on red blood cell aggregation was investigated using a modified automated Myrenne Aggregometer System. Hematocrit values ranged from 20–70% at 10% increments, and were produced by resuspending washed red cells in autologous plasma. The Myrenne System produced seven kinetic parameters of red cell aggregation. The results indicate that hematocrit (Hct) had a strong and nonlinear effect on erythrocyte aggregability. At both low and high hematocrit, the aggregation intensity (AI) tends to decrease, reaching a plateau at 40% hematocrit. The disaggregation shear rate demonstrates an exponential relationship as $ln{\mathit{\gamma }}_{\mathrm{TMIN}}=3.29\text{–}0.0837\mathrm{Hct}$ . Time constants of the aggregation process such as T_1/2 T_SLOW and T_FAST were rather inconsistent. The increase of hematocrit increased the rate of the fast phase aggregation and slightly slowed the secondary aggregation.