Effects of hydration on blood rheology

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of oral fluid intake on blood rheology of 17 healthy adults following a 12–14 hour overnight fast from food and drink. An oral fluid load of 500 ml was consumed every 30 minutes for 2 hours. Blood viscosity values at shear rates of 1, 10 and 100 s⁻¹ were reduced (p<0.05 to p<0.01) at 30 and 120 minutes following hydration; however, these differences were not significant after hematocrit correction. With fluid intake, both uncorrected and corrected viscous component of blood viscoelasticity at oscillatory shear rate of 1 s⁻¹ and at a constant frequency of 2 Hz were reduced (p<0.05 to p<0.001) at all time points as compared to fasting values. The corrected elastic component of blood viscoelasticity increased 90 minutes after hydration (p<0.05). An overnight fast is accompanied by rheological abnormalities that are altered by fluid intake.