Whatistheroleofplasmaviscosityinhemostasisandvasculardiseaserisk.docVIP

What is the role of plasma viscosity in hemostasis and vascular disease risk? Author: Larry H Bernstein, MD and Curator: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN This is the first of a two part discussion of viscosity, hemostasis, and vascular risk Part II: ?Special Considerations in Blood Lipoproteins, Viscosity, Assessment and Treatment Thesis Statement: The effects of?low-density lipoprotein?and?high-density lipoprotein?on blood viscosity correlate with their association with risk of atherosclerosis in humans.? (Seminal study) G. D. Sloop, MD.Department of Pathology,?Louisiana State University School of Medicine,New Orleans, LA?70112, U.S.A. ?Increased blood or plasma viscosity has been associated with increased atherogenesis, and that the effects of low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein on blood viscosity correlate with their association with atherosclerosis risk. Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was more strongly correlated with blood viscosity than was total cholesterol (r = 0.4149, P = 0.0281, compared with r = 0.2790, P = 0.1505). High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels were inversely associated with blood viscosity (r = – 0.4018, P = 0.0341). To confirm these effects, viscometry was performed on erythrocytes, suspended in saline, which had been incubated in plasma of various low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein ratios. Viscosity correlated directly with low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein ratio (n = 23, r = 0.8561, P 0.01). Low-density lipoprotein receptor occupancy data suggests that these effects on viscosity are mediated by erythrocyte aggregation. These results demonstrate that the effects of low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein on blood viscosity in healthy subjects may play a role in atherogenesis by modulating the dwell or residence time of atherogenic particles in the vicinity of the endothelium. This discussion is an additional perspective on the series on coagulation, and earlier posts that were on f