European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

ASSESSMENT OF HEMORHEOLOGICAL ALTERATIONS AS ATHEROSCLEROSIS RISK FACTORS

*Manisha Mandal, Arup Bandyopadhyay, Surekha De and Lal Babu Prasad

ABSTRACT

The study of hemorheology is of great significance in the area of medical research. The present study was carried out to investigate the association of hemorheological properties including blood viscosity, hematocrit, fibrinogen concentration, RBC aggregation and deformability with atherosclerosis risk factors such as diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidemia. The patients (n=97) presenting with risk factors of atherosclerosis were 49.54±1.42 years, had BMI 30.98±0.65 kg/m2, with lipid measures as total cholesterol (TC) 258.92±4.16 mg/dl, triglyceride (TG) 231.07±6.24 mg/dl, HDL 33.37±1.64, LDL 180.46±4.47 mg/dl, VLDL 47.04±1.66 mg/dl, fasting sugar (FS) 193.33±7.67 mg/dl which, except the age, were significantly (p<0.0001) higher than the controls; the viscosity (Visc), hematocrit (Hct), fibrinogen (Fib), yield shear stress (YSS), shear rate (SR), rouleax formation intensity (RFI), and filterability index (FI) respectively were 4.84±0.06 cP, 48±0.37%, 0.47±0.005 g/dl, 0.23±0.007 dynes/cm2, 0.046±0.001 s-1, 1.76±0.08, 1.10±0.009%, (p<0.0001), where the values were expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. Diabetic, obese and hyperlipidemic men had significantly higher TC, TG, VLDL, Hct, Vis, YSS and FI compared to their female counterparts. The YSS was found to increase rapidly with increase in Hct, SR, RFI and FI in atherosclerosis. There was significant association between diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidemia with hemorheological alterations in atherosclerosis and between FS, BMI, lipid profile with hemorheological parameters in controls. Hyperviscosity was significantly associated with low levels of HDL cholesterol with concomitant hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and hyperfibrogenemia in atherosclerosis. The alterations in the flow behavior property of blood is an important factor in the development of atherosclerosis.

Keywords: Viscosity, hematocrit, fibrinogen, RBC aggregation, deformability, lipid profile.