New evidence for involvement of blood rheological disorders in rise of peripheral resistance in essential hypertension.

To ascertain the contribution of blood rheological disorders in elevation of arterial pressure during hypertension, erythrocyte aggregability was investigated in rats and evaluated in patients with the Georgian technique. The evidence obtained for the significant role that blood rheological disorders play in development of this pathological phenomenon was found to be as follows: (a) the enhanced erythrocyte aggregation in rat's blood (caused by high molecular weight dextran administration) results in a rise of the systemic arterial pressure while the arteriolar diameters remain unchanged; (b) a direct relationship has been found between the index of erythrocyte aggregability (Georgian technique) and total peripheral resistance in patients with mild and severe forms of the essential hypertension; and (c) a linear relationship between lowering of erythrocyte aggregability and the diastolic arterial pressure, as well as total peripheral resistance, was revealed also following treatment of hypertensive patients with Ca-antagonists. These findings support the conclusion that blood rheological disorders, related to increased erythrocyte aggregability, play a significant role in the concerted action of factors enhancing peripheral resistance and in elevation of the arterial pressure in patients with essential hypertension.