Eptifibatide is associated with significant cost savings and similar clinical outcomes to abciximab when used during primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-elevation myocardial infarction: An observational cohort study of 3863 patients

Problems of Red Blood Cell Aggregation and Deformation Assessed by Laser Tweezers, Diffuse Light Scattering and Laser Diffractometry

This study aims to highlight the problems with implementing optical techniques (laser tweezers, diffuse light scattering and laser diffractometry) in clinical hemorheological practice. We provide the feasibility of these techniques to assess microrheological effects of various molecular mechanisms affecting RBC aggregation and deformability. In particular, we show that they allow assessment of changes in RBC aggregation in whole blood samples both on the level of single cells and on the level of large ensembles of cells. Application of these methods allows for studying the mechanisms of RBC aggregation because they are sensitive to changes in the medium which surrounds the RBC (i.e., blood plasma, serum or model solutions of blood plasma proteins) and to changes in the cellular properties of RBCs (i.e., effects on the cell membrane due to glycoprotein inhibition).

Assessment of Fibrinogen Macromolecules Interaction with Red Blood Cells Membrane by Means of Laser Aggregometry, Flow Cytometry, and Optical Tweezers Combined with Microfluidics

An elevated concentration of fibrinogen in blood is a significant risk factor during many pathological diseases, as it leads to an increase in red blood cells (RBC) aggregation, resulting in hemorheological disorders. Despite the biomedical importance, the mechanisms of fibrinogen-induced RBC aggregation are still debatable. One of the discussed models is the non-specific adsorption of fibrinogen macromolecules onto the RBC membrane, leading to the cells bridging in aggregates. However, recent works point to the specific character of the interaction between fibrinogen and the RBC membrane. Fibrinogen is the major physiological ligand of glycoproteins receptors IIbIIIa (GPIIbIIIa or αIIββ3 or CD41/CD61). Inhibitors of GPIIbIIIa are widely used in clinics for the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases as antiplatelets agents preventing the platelets’ aggregation. However, the effects of GPIIbIIIa inhibition on RBC aggregation are not sufficiently well studied. The objective of the present work was the complex multimodal in vitro study of the interaction between fibrinogen and the RBC membrane, revealing the role of GPIIbIIIa in the specificity of binding of fibrinogen by the RBC membrane and its involvement in the cells’ aggregation process. We demonstrate that GPIIbIIIa inhibition leads to a significant decrease in the adsorption of fibrinogen macromolecules onto the membrane, resulting in the reduction of RBC aggregation. We show that the mechanisms underlying these effects are governed by a decrease in the bridging components of RBC aggregation forces.