Effects of remote ischemic preconditioning on the deformability and aggregation of red blood cells in a rat endotoxemia model.

BACKGROUND: The prevention of rheologic alterations in erythrocytes may be important for reducing sepsis-associated morbidity and mortality. Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has been shown to prevent tissue damage caused by severe ischemia and mortality resulting from sepsis. However, the effect of RIPC on erythrocytes in sepsis is yet to be determined. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of RIPC on rheologic alterations in erythrocytes in sepsis. METHODS: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study. An endotoxin-induced sepsis model was established by intraperitoneally injecting 20 mg/kg LPS (LPS group). RIPC was induced in the right hind limb using a tourniquet, with three 10-minute of ischemia and 10 min of reperfusion cycles immediately before the injection of LPS (RIPC/LPS group) or phosphate-buffered saline (RIPC group). The aggregation index (AI), time to half-maximal aggregation (T1/2), and maximal elongation index (EImax) of the erythrocytes were measured 8 h after injection. RESULTS: The AI, T1/2, and EImax values in the LPS and RIPC/LPS groups differed significantly from those in the RIPC group, but there were no differences between the values in the LPS and RIPC/LPS groups. CONCLUSIONS: RIPC did not prevent rheologic alterations in erythrocytes in the rat model of LPS-induced endotoxemia.