[Hemorrheology in clinical practice. Applications in an in vitro study of troxerutin]

Abstract

It is now well established that blood behaves like a non Newtonian fluid varying with the shear rate. Blood viscosity pattern relative to various shear rates shows a high viscosity at low shear rate (due to rouleau formation or erythrocyte aggregation) with a decrease at high shear rate. This high blood viscosity will be of a great importance only while pathological blood flowing with low output or stasis. Pathological variations of one factor determining blood viscosity and clinical signs define hyperviscosity syndrome. From an hemodynamical point of view, the appearance of an hyperviscosity syndrome, may, as a result of feedback mechanism, aggravate the disorders leading to a slowing down and even to a stop in local blood flow, subsequently encouraging ischemia. Moreover hyperviscosity also leads to a theoretical lowering capacity of oxygen transport by blood approximatively in proportion with the haematocrit/blood viscosity ratio. With regard to therapeutic aspect, the pharmacology of rheological influence drugs must be displaced into the wider outline proposed by Virchow. So we could distinguish between therapeutic action of drugs upon haematocrit, plasmatic proteins level, red blood cell deformability and erythrocyte aggregation. Among this last category disaggregating effect of rutosides has been first pointed out by Schmid-Schöenbein and Col. Our results of an in vitro study of troxerutine effect with ranging concentrations from 10(-5) to 10(-2) M upon blood viscosity and erythrocyte aggregation are reported.