Rheological study of density gradient fractionated erythrocytes in diabetes and atherosclerotic vascular disease

Abstract

A Percoll-Isopaque density gradient fractionation technique has been developed for rheological study of the more dense and older erythrocytes from patients with vascular disease. Thirty patients with insulin-dependent diabetes and 30 patients with atherosclerotic peripheral occlusive arterial disease were matched with healthy controls and erythrocyte rheology studied by filtration through 3 and 5 µm diameter pores and by ektacytometry. Density gradient fractionation confirmed that erythrocytes are not rheo1ogical1y homogeneous, cells from the dense fraction being poorly deformable. This applied equally to patients and controls, however, with no evidence of a selective sub-population of rheologically compromised erythrocytes in diabetes or atherosclerosis.