title: The appearance of aggregated erythrocytes in the peripheral blood of individuals with insulin resistance.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine "D", Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Justo
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marilus
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mardi
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tolchinsky
authors.forename: Yelena
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goldin
authors.forename: Meirav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rozenblat
authors.forename: Ori
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rogowski
authors.forename: Yair
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yerushalmi
authors.forename: Naftali
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Galina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shenkerman
authors.forename: Varda
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zeltser
authors.forename: Shlomo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berliner
authors.forename: Itzhak
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shapira
mesh_terms: D004903:Erythrocyte Aggregation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results