Adhesion of human and chicken red blood cells to polystyrene: influence of electrolyte and polyethylene glycol concentration.

Adhesion of glutaraldehyde-fixed human red blood cells (RBC) to polystyrene was measured as a function of concentration of mono-, di-, and trivalent cations. The effectiveness for preventing adhesion was trivalent > divalent > monovalent. Adhesion increased with ionic strength but no specificity of cations in a particular valency group was observed. Adhesion as a function of NaCl concentration was not affected by temperature between 1 degrees C and 22 degrees C but decreased in 150 mM NaCl above pH 6. Chicken RBC and neuraminidase-treated human RBC were more adhesive than untreated human RBC in NaCl. In 150 mM NaCl, adhesion of human RBC decreased in the presence of hemolyzate or polyethylene glycols (mol. wt. 10,000-300,000). These results support the hypothesis that RBC adhesion to polystyrene occurs in the primary minimum of the potential energy of interaction and is governed by attractive London-Van der Waals and repulsive electrostatic forces. The implications were applied to study of hemagglutination of RBC with lectin and lectin-labeled gold granules in polystyrene microplates.