Red blood cell aggregation in nephrotic syndrome.

Red blood cell (RBC) aggregation induced by fibrinogen is a major determinant of the non-Newtonian flow behavior of human blood and has been suggested as a possible contributing factor for thrombogenesis. Given the elevated fibrinogen levels and the high incidence of thrombotic accidents in nephrotic syndrome (NS), a study was designed to assess RBC aggregation in this disease. Three different aggregation assays were used: (1) changes in light transmission through static cell suspensions, aggregation half time (AHT); (2) low gravity centrifugation of blood in nearly vertical tubes, zeta sedimentation ratio (ZSR); (3) direct observation of dilute RBC suspensions, microscopic aggregation index (MAI). The results indicate that RBC aggregation, as measured by AHT and ZSR, is increased significantly in NS patients versus healthy controls (P less than 0.001 for both methods); this increase was not a function of renal insufficiency. The AHT and ZSR data were well correlated with plasma fibrinogen levels (r = 0.75 and 0.84, respectively). No differences were observed with the MAI method, since with this technique the aggregation process reaches an asymptotic plateau for the range of fibrinogen found in NS. Implications of increased RBC aggregation and thus increased blood viscosity and flow disturbances on thrombogenesis are discussed.