Macromolecular depletion modulates the binding of diabetic erythrocytes to endothelial cells

Abstract

In normal condition, the adherence of normal red blood cells (RBC) with endothelial cells (EC) is usually insignificant. However, such insignificant adhesion is magnified in several pathological conditions and the mechanisms of such adhesion have been poorly understood. The present study investigated whether depletion mechanism mediate diabetic red blood cells adhesion to endothelial cells. The results showed that both 500kDa dextran and 70kDa dextran promote RBC adhesion with EC and the adhesion efficiency is elevated with the increase of the molecular weight of dextran. Hence, the present study reveals a novel mechanism of RBC-EC interaction in diabetes mellitus and provides new therapeutic approach to prevent vascular complications associated with RBC-EC interaction.