Biomechanical and biochemical investigation of erythrocytes in late stage human leptospirosis
Braz. j. med. biol. res
;
53(8): e9268, 2020. tab, graf
Article
in English
| LILACS, ColecionaSUS
| ID: biblio-1132539
ABSTRACT
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira, which can cause lipid changes in the erythrocyte membrane. Optical tweezers were used to characterize rheological changes in erythrocytes from patients with leptospirosis in the late stage. Biochemical methods were also used for quantification of plasma lipid, erythrocyte membrane lipid, and evaluation of liver function. Our data showed that the mean elastic constant of erythrocytes from patients with leptospirosis was around 67% higher than the control (healthy individuals), indicating that patient's erythrocytes were less elastic. In individuals with leptospirosis, several alterations in relation to control were observed in the plasma lipids, however, in the erythrocyte membrane, only phosphatidylcholine showed a significant difference compared to control, increasing around 41%. With respect to the evaluation of liver function of individuals with leptospirosis, there was a significant increase in levels of alanine transaminase (154%) and aspartate transaminase (150%), whereas albumin was 43.8% lower than control (P<0.01). The lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase fractional activity was 3.6 times lower in individuals with leptospirosis than in the healthy individuals (P<0.01). The decrease of the erythrocyte elasticity may be related to the changes of erythrocyte membrane phospholipids composition caused by disturbances that occur during human leptospirosis, with phosphatidylcholine being a strong candidate in the erythrocyte rheological changes.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Erythrocytes
/
Leptospirosis
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. j. med. biol. res
Year:
2020
Type:
Article
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco/BR
/
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco/BR
/
Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco/BR
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS