Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 8: Poster I

BP 8.1: Poster

Monday, March 16, 2020, 17:30–19:30, P2/1OG

Erythrocytes sedimentation rate and acanthocytosis — •Alexis Darras, Thomas John, Lars Kaestner, and Wagner Christian — Universität des Saarlandes, Experimental physics, Saarbrücken, Germany

Aggregation rate of the red blood cells (RBC), or erythrocytes, is a physical parameter of blood which is often checked in medical diagnosis. The easiest and most widespread method to assess this aggregation rate is by measuring the erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR). It is well known that in case of inflammation, the increase in fibrinogen and other proteins results in higher aggregation and ESR than in healthy blood. However, some rare cases also lead to a slower ESR. It is notoriously the case with acanthocytosis, where patients have deformed RBC, called acanthocytes.

In this presentation, we will report new detailed measurements of ESR from acanthocytosis' patients and discuss the origin of this slower ESR. For this, we combine macroscopic tests with microscopic data of the acanthocytes aggregation. On the basis of the dynamics of colloidal gels, we will show how the change in aggregates' morphology, due to the acanthocytes, leads to slower sedimentation rate.