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In hematology, erythrocyte deformability refers to the ability of erythrocytes (red blood cells, RBCs) to change shape under a given level of applied stress without hemolysing (rupturing). This is an important property because erythrocytes must change their shape extensively under the influence of mechanical forces in fluid flow or while ...
Osmotic fragility (OF) refers to the degree or proportion of hemolysis that occurs when a sample of red blood cells are subjected to osmotic stress by being placed in a hypotonic solution. Osmotic fragility is affected by various factors, including membrane composition and integrity as well as the cells' sizes or surface-area-to-volume ratios ...
These functions are highly dependent on the membrane composition. The red blood cell membrane is composed of 3 layers: the glycocalyx on the exterior, which is rich in carbohydrates; the lipid bilayer which contains many transmembrane proteins, besides its lipidic main constituents; and the membrane skeleton, a structural network of proteins ...
Other disorders which cause macrocytosis without DNA replication problems (i.e., non-megaloblastic macrocytic anemias), are disorders associated with increased red cell membrane surface area, such as pathologies of the liver and spleen which produce codocytes or "target cells" which have a central collection of hemoglobin surrounded by a pallor (a thin area) then followed by a thicker ...
Normal red blood cells are round, flattened disks that are thinner in the middle than at the edges. A poikilocyte is an abnormally-shaped red blood cell. [1] Generally, poikilocytosis can refer to an increase in abnormal red blood cells of any shape, where they make up 10% or more of the total population of red blood cells.
Acanthocytes, from peripheral blood, under light microscopy. Note the irregularly shaped, non-circular cells in the image. Acanthocyte (from the Greek word ἄκανθα acantha, meaning 'thorn'), in biology and medicine, refers to an abnormal form of red blood cell that has a spiked cell membrane, due to thorny projections.
Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia may be suspected based on routine medical laboratory tests such as a CBC (complete blood cell count). Automated analysers (the machines that perform routine full blood counts in most hospitals) are designed to flag blood specimens that contain abnormal amounts of red blood cell fragments or schistocytes. [2]
Functional: Assays of cell function will be highly specific to the types of cells being assayed. For example, motility is a widely used assay of sperm cell function. Gamete survival can generally be used to assay fertility. Red blood cells have been assayed in terms of deformability, osmotic fragility, hemolysis, ATP level, and hemoglobin ...