Leucocyte Rheological Properties Are Altered in Patients with Diffuse Atherosclerosis

Abstract

SummaryTo evaluate whether atherosclerosis may be associated with altered leucocyte rheology, we assessed leucocyte count (by Coulter counter), aggregation (by means of the leukergy test) and expression of adhesion molecules integrin LFA-1 and CD 44 (by means of immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry) in 9 patients with carotid plus lower limb artery atherosclerosis (group A), 14 patients with carotid atherosclerosis only (group B) and 23 controls without atherosclerosis (group C). The level of LFA-1 (calculated as mean fluorescence channels - MFCs) on neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes was significantly higher (p <0.05) in group A and B patients than in controls (group A - mean ± SE : 383.77 ± 9.42 vs 295.45 ± 5.76; 474.22 ± 8.86 vs ± 7.84; 457.66 ± 12.03 vs 396.25 ± 4.37. Group B: 322.42 ± 6.36 vs 295.45 ± 5.76; 421.42 ± 7.21 vs 388.35 ± 7.84; 415.71 ± 7.73 vs 396.25 ± 4.37, respectively); furthermore, the MFC of LFA-1 on neutrophils was significantly different (p <0.05) between group A and B patients. The percentage of aggregated leucocytes was significantly higher (p <0.05) in group A patients (4.46 ± 1.07) than those in groups B (1.75 ± 0.38) and C (1.43 ± 0.25), whereas no significant difference was detected between groups B and C. Leucocyte number and expression of CD44 were not significantly different among the 3 groups. In conclusion, changes in leucocyte rheology are present in patients with atherosclerosis and may contribute to chronic ischaemia.

The leukocyte adhesiveness/aggregation test as an inflammation-related, plasma-dependent agglutination phenomenon

“…In various earlier studies it has been shown to correlate with disease activity during infections [1^3], rheumatic diseases [4^5], ischaemic heart diseases [6^8], brain conditions [9^13], in£ammatory bowel diseases [14^16], as well as trauma-related in£ammatory responses [17,18] and atherosclerosis [19]. This test is based on the observation that white blood cells increase their adhesiveness following in£am-matory stimuli [20].…”

Reduced Leukocyte Adhesiveness in Response to Viral versus Nonviral Infection/Inflammation

“…The observation that bacterial infections increase leukocyte adhesiveness is not new [4,5,11]; increased adhesiveness/aggregation is nonspecific and can be observed in other inflammatory conditions, including arthritis [12], inflammatory bowel diseases [13], trauma [14], myocardial infarction [15], stroke [16] and atherosclerosis [17]. However, viral infections differ from bacterial and noninfectious inflammatory conditions by the absence of increased leukocyte adhesiveness/aggregation both in peripheral blood [9] and in CSF [18].…”

Capillary and Venous Leukocyte Adhesiveness/Aggregation to Differentiate between Viral and Bacterial Infection

“…Inflammation confers increased adhesive properties upon white blood cells (WBC) [1].We [2][3][4][5][6] and others [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] have used a simple slide test to reveal the increased state of leukocyte adhesiveness/aggregation (LAA) in the peripheral blood of individuals during various conditions of infection /inflammation.The leukocyte adhesiveness/aggregation test (LAAT) was shown to be a useful laboratory test to detect the presence [14,15] and severity [4,5,[16][17][18] of an inflammatory response. We have recently introduced the novel technology of image analysis to detect the presence of WBC in the peripheral blood slides as well as for the quantitation of their degree of adhesiveness/aggregation [19][20][21][22].…”