Rheological properties of blood in patients with chronic liver disease.

We analyzed rheologic parameters, including erythrocyte rigidity (ER), whole blood and plasma viscosity, erythrocyte and platelet count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), fibrinogen, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL), and gamma globulin levels in 18 patients with chronic liver disease and 20 healthy volunteers. Fifteen patients had cryptogenic cirrhosis while 3 had chronic active hepatitis. ER and MCV was significantly higher in the patient group than the control group while whole blood and plasma viscosities were significantly lower. There were significant correlations between ER and blood and plasma viscosity, ER and MCV, plasma and blood viscosity, HDL and plasma viscosity and a negative correlation between ER and ESR. Our results demonstrate that erythrocytes become more rigid in chronic liver disease. We suggest that erythrocytes with increased rigidity can impair hepatic microvascular circulation and thus contribute to liver dysfunction.