Allopurinol Prevents Erythrocyte Deformability Impairing but Not the Hematological Alterations After Limb Ischemia–Reperfusion in Rats

Abstract

The measurement of red blood cell deformability provides a possible method for detecting the effect of ischemia–reperfusion on erythrocytes. In our study the effect of 1-h ischemia–reperfusion with or without allopurinol pretreatment on hematological parameters and red blood cell deformability was investigated in a follow-up experiment of 26 male CD outbred rats that were subjected to unilateral hind-limb ischemia by microvascular clips on femoral vessels for 1 h (IR, n = 6), some rats received allopurinol pretreatment under the same conditions (50 mg/kg, AP + IR, n = 8), others were subjected to sham operation (n = 6), and the rest of animals served as control (n = 6). Measurement of erythrocyte deformability using a bulk filtrometer with special setting of cell suspension hematocrit (1%), and determination of hematological parameters were performed daily for one week. In the IR group, relative cell transit time increased significantly on postoperative days 1 and 2, which was not observed in the other groups. Settings for the measurement of erythrocyte deformability by reducing the blood sample volume gave the possibility of monitoring the resulting changes in rats. Mean corpuscular volume and hemoglobin, platelet count, and platelet volume were higher in the IR and AP + IR groups than in the other groups. In summary, short-term ischemia and reperfusion induced lower red blood cell deformability in the early postoperative period, which could be prevented by allopurinol pretreatment.