Influence of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus on erythrocyte aggregation using image digital analysis

M. DArrigo, M. Delannoy, B. Riquelme, A. Fontana

Abstract: Socially important vascular diseases such as Essential Hypertension (EH) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2) affect intrinsic structure and adhesion properties of erythrocytes. The morphological changes in red blood cell (RBC) aggregation in both pathologies were studied using digital image analysis. To characterize and detect alterations in erythrocyte aggregates, the Aggregated Shape Parameter (ASP) was determined by measuring the perimeter and area of each RBC aggregate in healthy donors, as well as in patients with EH and DM2. Isolated cells, doublet cells and aggregates containing three, four and more than five RBCs were counted microscopically in each visual field. The complete biochemical and clinical studies were carried out to evaluate the patient profiles and their serum sialic acid concentrations. The results showed an increase in ASP values in patients with EH, but no significant changes were observed in DM2. An increase in the number of cell aggregates containing more than five RBCs in EH was detected, while a slight decrease was observed in the samples from diabetic patients. An elevation in the number of isolated erythrocytes was also found in samples from patients with DM2 in comparison to healthy donors. The microscopic images of RBC aggregates showed specific morphological differences from the normal shape (rouleaux) in healthy donors to globular aggregates in RBC from EH and DM2 patients. Therefore, the differences in the morphology of RBC aggregation between health and diseases (EH, DM2), obtained by microscopic image analysis can be used as an additional diagnostic tool in the medical practice.

Keywords: aggregated shape parameter; digital image analysis; Essential hypertension; RBC aggregation morphology; serum sialic acid; type 2 diabetes mellitus

Date published: 2015-04-09