Editorial Open Access

The Value of Comparative Hemorheological Studies

Abstract

Comparative studies are useful tools to investigate structure-function relationships in medicine and biology if the animal models are well selected. The rheology of many animal blood suspensions has been investigated, and data are available concerning RBC membrane properties [1,2]. Animal models play a role in basic cardiovascular research, but also in the development of medical devices or in the forensic field of bloodstain pattern analysis when human blood is unavailable for ethical or practical reasons. Knowing the behavior of animal blood under different flow conditions is therefore crucial for the study outcome; at best, the animal blood properties are similar to those of the human standard. Comparability is achieved if there is a match in intrinsic (deformability, surface properties) and extrinsic (size, shape) RBC properties and in the coupling between blood cells and blood plasma. At perfect comparability the flow resistance would be the same, but having only the same hematocrit is not enough. Nature has evolved so many different RBC phenotypes for the same physiological task, so that blood rheology rather reflects a fingerprint for each species; a perfect match for all circumstances can never be found. The use of animal blood is therefore always a compromise, however the species selection can be optimized when defining under which flow condition the animal blood should match human blood.

Ursula Windberger

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