Defects of Red Blood Cell Membranes in Patients with Brain Dysfunction (Pilot Study)

The aim of the paper: to identify promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of pathological processes development based on the red blood cell membrane morphology and nanostructure in patients with brain disorders in the Intensive Care Unit.

Materials and methods. The study included 24 patients from the anesthesiology and resuscitation ward of the Federal Research and Clinical Center of Intensive Care Medicine and Rehabilitology. Blood was acquired from the patients for standard tests, and all further tests were performed in vitro. The images of red blood cells were obtained using the atomic force microscope «NTEGRA Рrima» (NT-MDT, Russia) in semi-contact mode.

Results. Patients from the anesthesiology and intensive care ward with traumatic brain injury, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral edema, and post-hypoxic encephalopathy had different blood cell shapes and localized defects of different topology on the surface of erythrocyte membranes including defects of pallor, torus, and nanostructure.

Conclusion. In this pilot study we have shown that several defects represent the trigger mechanisms for the development of a total membrane damage. Local topographic defects of nanostructures and abnormalities of erythrocyte morphology are irreversible. The number and quality of these abnormalities may eventually be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of pathological processes.

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