Comparison of two methods in erythrocyte microrheology determination using glutaraldehyde-treated cells.

The change in human red blood cell microrheology in different glutaraldehyde concentrations (1.5, 3.0 and 5.0 x 10(-6) mol l-1) was studied. The method of millipore filtration was compared with the method of cation-osmotic hemolysis. The obtained results revealed that the prolongation of the erythrocyte filtration time correlated with the curve shifts found in cation-osmotic hemolysis. Contrary to the filtration method, significant differences between two lower concentrations of glutaraldehyde (1.5 and 3.0 x 10(-6) mol l-1) were found. Therefore, we conclude that the cation-osmotic hemolysis is more sensitive than the filtration method in determining the red blood cell deformability.