Comparative Cell Shape and Diffusional Water Permeability of Red Blood Cells from Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus) and Man (Homo sapiens)

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Benga ◽  
P. W. Kuchel ◽  
B. E. Chapman ◽  
G. C. Cox ◽  
I. Ghiran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Water Permeability ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Elephas Maximus ◽  
Indian Elephant

The squeezing of red blood cells through capillaries with near-minimal diameters

1989 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 381-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Halpern ◽  
T. W. Secomb
Keyword(s):  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Cell Shape ◽  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Tube Diameter ◽  
Red Cells ◽  
Rheological Parameters ◽  
Red Cell ◽  
Red Cell Membrane ◽  
Intact Cells

An analysis is presented of the mechanics of red blood cells flowing in very narrow tubes. Mammalian red cells are highly flexible, but their deformations satisfy two significant constraints. They must deform at constant volume, because the contents of the cell are incompressible, and also at nearly constant surface area, because the red cell membrane strongly resists dilation. Consequently, there exists a minimal tube diameter below which passage of intact cells is not possible. A cell in a tube with this diameter has its critical shape: a cylinder with hemispherical ends. Here, flow of red cells in tubes with near-minimal diameters is analysed using lubrication theory. When the tube diameter is slightly larger than the minimal value, the cell shape is close to its shape in the critical case. However, the rear end of the cell becomes flattened and then concave with a relatively small further increase in the diameter. The changes in cell shape and the resulting rheological parameters are analysed using matched asymptotic expansions for the high-velocity limit and using numerical solutions. Predictions of rheological parameters are also obtained using the assumption that the cell is effectively rigid with its critical shape, yielding very similar results. A rapid decrease in the apparent viscosity of red cell suspensions with increasing tube diameter is predicted over the range of diameters considered. The red cell velocity is found to exceed the mean bulk velocity by an amount that increases with increasing tube diameter.

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