Chapter 8: Blood Rheology

Christina Kolyva
 Blood Composition

• Whole blood consists of formed elements and plasma

• Formed elements: Red blood cells (RBCs) or erhythrocytes (99.9%)

White blood cells (WBCs) or leukocytes
Platelets 0.1%

• Plasma consists of: Water (92%)

Plasma proteins (7%)
Other solutes (1%)

• Hematocrit (H) is the percentage of whole blood

occupied by cellular elements
 Red Blood Cells

• In adult males 1 μl of whole blood contains 4.5-6.3 billion RBCs

• Shape: Biconcave disk-thin central region and thick outer margin. Why?
• Composition: Only organelles related to transport of respiratory gases
Hemoglobin (Hb) accounts for 95% of the cell’s intracellular proteins
• Function: Hb  O 2  HbO 2  H



CO 2  H 2 O  H 2 CO 3  H   HCO3
• Production: No nuclei or ribosomes, so they cannot divide or produce
their own proteins. Life span ~120 days
RBC formation (erythropoiesis) occurs in red bone marrow
 White Blood Cells

• In adults 1 μl of whole blood contains 6-9 thousand WBCs

• Shape: Divided to granulocytes and agranulocytes
• Composition: They do have a nucleus
They contain vesicles and lysosomes Lymphocyte (20-30%)
• Function: Defend the body against invasion by pathogens
Remove toxins, waste, abnormal or damaged cells
• Production: They survive from days (N) to months or years (L)
Produced in the bone marrow
Ls also produced in lymphoid tissues

Eosinophil (2-4%) Basophil (<1%)

Monocyte (2-8%)
Neutrophil (50-70%)
 Platelets

• In adults 1 μl of whole blood contains 150-500 thousand platelets

• Shape: Flattened disks, round when viewed from above
• Composition: They do not have a nucleus
They carry enzymes and other substances important for
the process of blood clotting
• Function: Transport chemicals for initiation and control of clotting
Form temporary platelet plug in the walls of injured blood
vessels
Actively contract when the clot has been formed
• Production: They live for 9-12 days
Produced in the bone marrow by magakaryocytes
 Plasma

• Composition: Contains significant quantities of dissolved proteins

Albumins (60%): Important for the transport of fatty acids,
thyroid hormones and steroid hormones. Also major
contributors to the osmotic pressure of plasma
Globulins (35%): Antibodies and transport proteins
Fibrinogen: Important for blood clotting.Fit forms fibrin,
which is the network for a blood clot

Also contains regulatory proteins, electrolytes, organic

nutrients and organic waste
 Viscosity

dU
• Viscosity μ: τ  μ  μγ
dy
gr
• Units: cP ( = 102 )
cm *s
 Newtonian, Non-Newtonian behaviour
Rheological curves = shear stress-shear rate curves

• Bingham fluids (2): τ  τ 0  kγ

• Casson fluids (3): τ  τ 0  k γ

• Pseudoplastics (4, 5): τ  kγ n

 Apparent viscosity

• For non-newtonian fluids apparent viscosity μα is defined as the slope of

the rheological curve at a specific shear rate
• Relative apparent viscosity is the ratio of the apparent viscosity of a
solution divided by the apparent viscosity of the solvent
Viscometers
 Blood viscosity

• Blood is a non-Newtonian fluid

• Apparent blood viscosity depends on shear rate
• Low shear rate=> Rouleaux formations and sedimentation=>high
apparent viscosity
• High shear rate=> the stacks break down=> newtonian behaviour
 Blood viscosity

• The blood has yield stress

• Yield stress depends on H and also on the fibrinogen concentration in

plasma
Empirical relation:

(H  10) *(CF  0.5)

τ0 
100
 Blood viscosity

• Relative viscosity depends also on H and on the flexibility of the RBCs

 Blood viscosity

•The dependence on H is non-linear for tube sizes down to 9 μm. For

smaller tubes the relation is linear
 Blood viscosity

• Blood viscosity depends on plasma viscosity . The latter depends on the

protein concentration of plasma

• Protein concentration of plasma also affects the flexibility of the RBCs and
the interactions between them (adhesiveness, aggregation)
 Blood viscosity

• Blood viscosity also depends on temperature, on the presence of platelets

(thrombi formation) and on the presence of WBCs (but only at
pathological conditions)

• Conclusion? The parameters that determine plasma viscosity affect also

each other. It is difficult to study each one separately
 Model

• Blood is modeled as a Casson fluid: τ  τ 0  k γ

• When τ>>τ0 k= μα and blood behaves like a newtonian fluid

μ0
• At high shear rates μα can be calculated as: s  μ α 
(1  H)aα 1
 Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect

• The apparent viscosity of blood depends on the geometry of the

instrument in which it is measured
 Fahraeus effect

• Reduction in tube hematocrit in microvessels relative to the supply

hematocrit
 Blood rheology in the circulation

• High shear rates, therefore blood can be considered newtonian

• In the capillaries though, the Fahraeus-Lindqvist effect must be taken into
account
 Blood rheology in the circulation

• Isolated rat hearts-blood apparent viscosity was changes by adding

albumin
• Minimal resistance remained constant despite the changes in apparent
viscosity
 Blood rheology in the circulation

• Surface of endothelial cells is lined with glycocalyx

 Blood rheology in the circulation

• Consists of membrane-bound molecules: glycoproteins, glycolipids,

proteoglycans and proteins
 Blood rheology in the circulation

• Implications of glycocalyx in blood rheology:

• Decrease in H larger than predicted by the anatomical diameter
• Increased resistance to flow
• Shear stress on the endothelial surface is small-transmitted via the
glycocalyx
• Regulation of blood flow via changing the shape of the layer