Rheological characteristics of erythrocytes incubated in glucose media.

Glucose-rich plasma is commonly observed in diabetes mellitus and in-vitro incubation of erythrocytes in glucose-rich media may produce the non-enzymatic glycosylation of erythrocyte proteins. The present study investigates the effects of an increased concentration of glucose in a suspending medium on erythrocyte rheological parameters. Erythrocytes, which were obtained from ten healthy volunteers, were washed and incubated in vitro with glucose solutions at different concentrations and incubation times.

Progressive impairment of erythrocyte deformability as indicator of microangiopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The erythrocyte deformability of blood samples, of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients with and without microangiopathic complications such as nephropathy and retinopathy, is determined and is compared with that of healthy control. The erythrocyte deformability is measured in terms of elongation index (EI) with microfluidic ektacytometer, which is very sensitive to detect changes in EI of erythrocytes due to hyperglycemic process. Each measurement of diffraction pattern of erythrocyte suspension in a highly viscous polyvinyl pyrroridone (PVP) solution in a disposable microchannel is carried out.