Rheological properties of erythrocytes and blood coagulation characteristics of healthy milk-fed piglets

Abstract

Investigations are carried out on 32 healthy Large White piglets in the milk-fed stage at ages of 6, 10, 15, and 20 days. By the end of this stage, a tendency toward an increase in the number of discocytes in the piglets’ blood to 86.5% and a decrease in the level of reversibly modified erythrocytes to 8.8% and irreversibly modified to 4.7% is noted. An insignificant increase in the level of total involvement of erythrocytes into aggregates (by 2.5%) and number of aggregates themselves (by 4.1%) with a 3.5% reduction of freely moving erythrocytes is revealed. Piglets aged 6–20 days are characterized by a tendency toward intensification of the activity of individual clotting factors (I, II, VII, VIII, IX, and XII) with unchanged activity of factors V, X, and XI. Gradual acceleration of activated partial thromboplastin time from 38.9 s on day 6 to 37.7 s on day 20 is noted. In this case, prothrombin time decreases slightly by day 20, to 16.7 s. Thrombin time, reflecting the intensity of transition of fibrinogen to fibrin, also accelerates, reaching 16.8 s.