Medicine questions >>>> Aggregation of erythrocytes

Aggregation of erythrocytes.

The study of the rheological properties of blood has always attracted the interest of scientists. This interest is due to the fact that the overwhelming majority of diseases are to one degree or another associated with changes in the composition and biophysical properties of blood.

Particular attention was paid to the property of erythrocytes "stick together", forming columns, and thereby change the degree of blood density. Besides the fact that red blood cells are capable of under the influence of certain forces (little-studied mechanism) stray into columns, these columns of red blood cells can also spontaneously break up into separate red blood cells. Scientists are always worried about the question: is the phenomenon they observe a pathology or a norm? In this sense, the aggregation of red blood cells (erythrocytes compound together in groups resembling coin bars) causes a double view: counts as a pathological process, and the compensatory function of the body.

As a pathological process, the aggregation of erythrocytes leads to an increase in blood density, thereby creating favorable opportunities for thrombus formation and slowing down blood flow, which gives impetus to the development of many diseases. When the aggregation of red blood cells is persistent, it is considered as a pathological process that disrupts microcirculation. Such aggregation of erythrocytes requires treatment, that is, taking antiplatelet drugs that reduce the ability of erythrocytes to stick together (aggregation). The most widely used is acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin and its synonyms).

But observations of the biophysical characteristics of blood in certain diseases during the period of remission, accompanied by aggregation of erythrocytes, led to the hypothesis that such aggregation of erythrocytes is a compensatory reaction and leads to an accelerated delivery of oxygen to those tissues where its presence is urgently needed. After all, it is erythrocytes that carry oxygen, and their aggregation (as noted in a number of experiments) contributes to their rapid transportation into branched capillary systems.

A slowdown in blood flow during aggregation of erythrocytes was noticed in venules, while in arterioles this resistance to blood flow was much less, which contributed to a faster movement of a conglomerate of erythrocytes (column) with oxygen in the desired direction. Under these conditions, the aggregation capacity of erythrocytes has a positive effect on the outcome of the disease.