The appearance of aggregated erythrocytes in the peripheral blood of individuals with insulin resistance.
BACKGROUND
Insulin resistance is associated with low-grade inflammatory response. The probability that the acute-phase response is associated with enhanced erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation was not explored.


METHODS
The degree of erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation was evaluated by using a simple slide test. The insulin resistance was evaluated by insulin and glucose concentrations after a night of fasting. The inflammatory response was evaluated by variables of acute-phase response.


RESULTS
A significant correlation (r = -0.2, p = 0.02) was noted between insulin resistance expressed as the HOMA index and the degree of erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation. This was probably due to the concomitant acute-phase response and the presence of increased amounts of inflammation-sensitive proteins that were found to correlate significantly with the degree of erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation. In the multiple linear regression analysis, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and fibrinogen concentration but not HOMA index were found to correlate significantly (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0007 respectively) with the degree of red blood cell adhesiveness/aggregation.


CONCLUSIONS
Insulin resistance is associated with an enhanced degree of erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation and this is related to the presence of enhanced inflammation-sensitive plasma proteins that are part of the acute-phase response. These findings might have hemorheological consequences and might contribute to the pathophysiology of the insulin-resistance syndrome.
Justo
Daniel
D
Department of Internal Medicine "D", Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Marilus
Rafael
R
Mardi
Tamar
T
Tolchinsky
Tatiana
T
Goldin
Yelena
Y
Rozenblat
Meirav
M
Rogowski
Ori
O
Yerushalmi
Yair
Y
Stern
Naftali
N
Shenkerman
Galina
G
Deutsch
Varda
V
Zeltser
David
D
Berliner
Shlomo
S
Shapira
Itzhak
I
D004903:Erythrocyte Aggregation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results