Erythrocyte aggregation

Erythrocyte aggregation is the reversible clumping of red blood cells (RBCs) under low shear forces or at stasis.

Erythrocytes aggregate in a special way, forming rouleaux. Rouleaux are stacks of erythrocytes which form because of the unique discoid shape of the cells in vertebrate body. The flat surface of the discoid RBCs give them a large surface area to make contact and stick to each other; thus, forming a rouleau. Rouleaux formation takes place only in suspensions of RBC containing high-molecular, fibrilar proteins or polymers in the suspending medium (often Dextran-2000 in-vitro). The most important protein causing rouleaux formation in plasma is fibrinogen. RBC suspended in simple salt solutions do not form rouleaux.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ Chien S, Sung LA (1987). "Physicochemical basis and clinical implications of red cell aggregation". Clinical Hemorheology. 7: 71–91.
  2. ^ Chien S, Jan KM (1973). "Ultrastructural basis of the mechanism of rouleaux formation". Microvascular Research. 5 (2): 155–66. doi:10.1016/0026-2862(73)90068-X. PMID 4694282.
  3. ^ Mesielman HJ (1993). "Red blood cell role in RBC aggregation: 1963-1993 and beyond". Clinical Hemorheology. 13: 575–592.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.