Red blood cell indices in ocular pathology
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessment of red blood cell distribution width, red blood cell deformability and red blood cell aggregation in ocular inflammatory diseases.
IRAS ID
148460
Contact name
Carlos Pavesio
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Research summary
Rheological properties of the red blood cell are known to be sensitive to the altered microenvironment. It can be affected by age, smoking, hypertension and other metabolic diseases including vascular disorders. Rheology of the red blood cells can be altered secondary to the surrounding activated leukocytes or endothelium. Incubation of the red blood cells with activated leukocytes which produces oxygen free radicals can cause deleterious effects and these oxidative effects are in turn inhibited by antioxidant enzymes. Biochemical alterations induced by oxidants include lipid peroxidation, haemoglobin oxidation, altered membrane proteins and lipid composition. This in turn affects red blood cell deformability and red blood cell adherence. We would like to pursue this project to study the mechanical properties of the red blood cells in various retinal vascular and inflammatory disorders and further investigate or extrapolate the findings to systemic diseases.
REC name
West Midlands - Coventry & Warwickshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/1038
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion