A leukocyte and erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation test to reveal the presence of smoldering inflammation and risk factors for atherosclerosis

Abstract

The number of white blood cells in the peripheral blood, the presence of inflammation, increased fibrinogen concentrations and hyperlipidemia are established risk factors for atherosclerosis. It is known that hyperfibrinogenemia and hyperlipidemia cause increased erythrocyte aggregation, that inflammation will confer increased adhesive properties upon white blood cells and that the increased number of white blood cells can be detected in the peripheral blood. Therefore, we adopted a simple slide test and image analysis to determine the number of peripheral blood leukocytes and their state of adhesiveness/aggregation together with an erythrocyte adhesiveness/aggregation test to reveal the presence of these risk factors. The significant correlation between the fibrinogen and cholesterol concentration and the erythrocyte aggregation, between the white blood count and the number of leukocytes on the slides, and between the concentration of C-reactive protein and leukocyte adhesiveness indicate that we have succeeded in designing a simple one-step screening test that will identify patients at risk for atherosclerosis.