Stiffening of sickle cell trait red blood cells under simulated strenuous exercise conditions  

作　　者：Zhensong Xu Yi Zheng Xian Wang Nadine Shehata Chen Wang Shaorong Xie Yu Sun 

机构地区：[1]Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering,University of Toronto,Toronto,ON,Canada [2]Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering,University of Toronto,Toronto,ON,Canada [3]Department of Medicine,University of Toronto,Toronto,ON,Canada [4]Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,Mount Sinai Hospital,Toronto,ON,Canada [5]Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology,University of Toronto,Toronto,ON,Canada [6]School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation,Shanghai University,Shanghai,China [7]Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,University of Toronto,Toronto,ON,Canada

出　　处：《Microsystems & Nanoengineering》2016年第1期38-44,共7页微系统与纳米工程（英文）

基　　金：Financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(NSERC)through a Steacie Fellowship,from Grand Challenges of Canada,and from the Canada Research Chairs Program is acknowledged.

摘　　要：The higher risk of vaso-occlusion events and sudden death for sickle-cell trait(SCT)athletes has been speculatively ascribed to SCT red blood cell(RBC)stiffening during strenuous exercise.However,the microenvironmental changes that could induce the stiffening of SCT RBCs are unknown.To address this question,we measured the mechanical properties of and changes in SCT RBCs under deoxygenated and acidic environments,which are two typical conditions present in the circulation of athletes undertaking strenuous exercise.The results reveal that SCT RBCs are inherently stiffer than RBCs from non-SCT healthy subjects,and a lower pH further stiffens the SCT cells.Furthermore,at both normal and low pH levels,deoxygenation was found to not be the cause of the stiffness of SCT RBCs.This study confirms that the stiffening of SCT RBCs occurs at a low pH and implies that SCT RBC stiffening could be responsible for vaso-occlusion in SCT athletes during strenuous exercise.

关 键 词：DEFORMABILITY MICROFLUIDICS shear modulus sickle cell trait STIFFENING red blood cell 

分 类 号：R81[医药卫生—放射医学]