Abstract

FELDMAN, Leonardo Julio; DIEZ, Javier Alberto; NAJLE, Roberto  and  GONZALEZ, Alejandro Guillermo. Efectos hemorreológicos de los glóbulos rojos y sus implicancias en la salud. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam. [online]. 2021, vol.55, n.2, pp.137-150. ISSN 0325-2957.

Rheology is a scientific discipline dealing with the flow and deformation behavior of materials, with the materials under consideration being solids or more precisely, fluids. In particular, hemorheology is concerned with the behaviour of the flow of whole blood and also the deformability of the individual elements that make it up (i.e. red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets). Due to its pathophysiological importance, the measurement of red blood cell deformability has been the focus of numerous studies in recent decades and in particular the role of red blood cells in the regulation of O2 supply. The aim of this review was to summarise the currently available information on blood rheology with special emphasis on the influence of red blood cell deformability, highlighting its relationship with various human diseases such as hereditary membrane disorders (e.g. spherocytosis, elliptocytosis, ovalocytosis and stomatocytosis), metabolic disorders (e.g. diabetes and membrane changes induced by oxidative stress) and those associated with critical illnesses. The microfluidic techniques that have been identified are briefly presented here as key methods to develop the state-of-the-art in dynamic experimental models to elucidate the importance of erythrocyte membrane alterations in pathological conditions as well as the role that such alterations play in the dynamics of microcirculation flow.

Keywords : Hemorrheology; Red blood cell deformability; Membranopathies; Microcirculation; Microfluidic methods.