Characterization of shear stress preventing red blood cells aggregation at the individual cell level: The temperature dependence

Issue title: Selected papers of the 18th European Conference for Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation (ESCHM), 5-8 June, 2016, Lisbon, Portugal

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Lee, K.^{a; b; *} | Priezzhev, A.^{b; c} | Shin, S.^d | Yaya, F.^{a; e} | Meglinski, I.^a

Affiliations: [a] Optoelectronics and Measurement Techniques, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland | [b] Department of Physics, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia | [c] International Laser Centre, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia | [d] School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea | [e] Faculty of Science & Technology, Jean Monnet University, Saint-Étienne, France

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: K. Lee, Tel.: +358 4 494 85907, Fax: +358 8 553 2774; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The novel measure of the red blood cells (RBC) aggregation (RBC-A) – the critical (minimum) shear stress (CSS) to prevent the cells from aggregation was found to be a promising clinically significant parameter. However, the absolute values of this parameter were found to change significantly depending on the shearing geometry (cup-and-bob, cone-plate or microchannel-flow) and have different temperature dependences along with it. The direct confirmation of these dependences aimed to find out the correct values is still pending. OBJECTIVE: In this work, we aim to assess the absolute values of CSS at different temperatures. METHODS: The single cell level measurements of CSS were performed using optical tweezers. The measurements were carried out in heavily diluted suspensions of RBCs in plasma. RESULTS: The temperature dependent changes in CSS were measured at the points (22 and 38°C), in which the cup-and-bob and cone-plate systems yielded about 1.5-fold different values, while the microchannel-flow system yielded a constant value. The single cell CSS were found to be 362±157 mPa (22°C) and 312±57 mPa (38°C). CONCLUSIONS: Our results prove that the microfluidic-flow approach is reflecting the RBC-A correctly. While the CSS values measured with other systems show the temperature dependent effect of the shearing geometry.

Keywords: Red blood cell, aggregation, critical shear stress, temperature, shearing-geometry, single-cell level measurements, optical tweezers, microfluidic flow

DOI: 10.3233/CH-168020

Journal: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 853-857, 2016