Red cell aggregation as a factor influencing margination and adhesion of leukocytes and platelets.

Leukocytes and platelets must adhere to the wall of blood vessels to carry out their protective functions. Rheological factors influencing these processes are the delivery of the cells to the wall, referred to as margination, and the local shear rates and stresses at the wall. Margination requires leukocytes and platelets to be excluded from the central flow of the much more numerous red blood cells.