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Swanepoel AC, Emmerson O, Pretorius E. The Effect of Endogenous and Synthetic Estrogens on Whole Blood Clot Formation and Erythrocyte Structure. MICROSCOPY AND MICROANALYSIS : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY SOCIETY OF AMERICA, MICROBEAM ANALYSIS SOCIETY, MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 2017; 23:599-606. [PMID: 28478790 DOI: 10.1017/s1431927617000472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
As erythrocyte and estrogens interact so closely and erythrocytes can indicate the healthiness of an individual, it is essential to investigate the effects of natural estrogens as well as synthetic estrogens on these cells. Whole blood samples were used for thromboelastography (TEG), light microscopy (LM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation. Viscoelastic investigation with TEG revealed that estrogens affected the rate of clot formation without any significant effect on the strength or stability of the clot. Axial ratio analysis with LM showed a statistically significant increase in number of erythrocytes with decreased roundness. Morphological analysis with SEM confirmed the change in erythrocyte shape and revealed both ultrastructural membrane changes and erythrocyte interactions. As erythrocyte shape and membrane flexibility correlates to physiological functioning of these cells in circulation, these changes, indicative of possible eryptosis brought on by estrogens, when experienced by individuals with an underlying inflammatory or hematological illness, could impair erythrocyte functioning and even result in obstructions in circulation. In conclusion, we suggest that whole blood analysis with viscoelastic and morphological techniques could be used as assessment of the hematological healthiness of individuals using estrogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albe C Swanepoel
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences,University of Pretoria,Pretoria 0002,South Africa
| | - Odette Emmerson
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences,University of Pretoria,Pretoria 0002,South Africa
| | - Etheresia Pretorius
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences,University of Pretoria,Pretoria 0002,South Africa
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Visser J, van Staden PJ, Soma P, Buys AV, Pretorius E. The stabilizing effect of an oligomeric proanthocyanidin on red blood cell membrane structure of poorly controlled Type II diabetes. Nutr Diabetes 2017; 7:e275. [PMID: 28504711 PMCID: PMC5518807 DOI: 10.1038/nutd.2017.25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Revised: 03/17/2017] [Accepted: 03/24/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Type II diabetes (T2D) is a pandemic characterized by pathological circulating inflammatory markers, high-glucose levels and oxidative stress. The hematological system is especially vulnerable to these aberrant circulating molecules, and erythrocytes (RBCs) show aberrant rheology properties, owing to the direct contact with these molecules. Pathological levels of circulating inflammatory markers in T2D therefore have a direct effect on the molecular and cellular structure of RBCs. Previous research has suggested that antioxidants may reduce oxidative stress that results from the pathological inflammatory markers. Particularly, polyphenol antioxidants like oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs) may act as a hydroxyl mopping agent, and may have a positive effect on the deformability and membrane protein structure of RBCs from T2D. In this paper, we look at the effect of one such agent, Pinus massoniana bark extract (standardized to 95% oligomeric proanthicyanidins), on the RBC membrane structures and RBC shape changes of T2D, after laboratory exposure at physiological levels. Our methods of choice were atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to study RBC elasticity and ultrastructure. Results showed that in our hands, this OPC could change both the eryptotic nature of the RBCs, as viewed with scanning electron microscopy, as well as the elasticity. We found a significant difference in variation between the elasticity measurement values between the RBCs before and after OPC exposure (P-value <0.0001). In conclusion, the data from both these techniques therefore suggest that OPC usage might contribute to the improvement of RBC functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Visser
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Arcadia, South Africa
| | - P J van Staden
- Department of Statistics, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
| | - P Soma
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Arcadia, South Africa
| | - A V Buys
- Unit for Microscopy and Microanalysis, University of Pretoria, Arcadia, South Africa
| | - E Pretorius
- Department of Physiological Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
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Georgatzakou HT, Tzounakas VL, Kriebardis AG, Velentzas AD, Papageorgiou EG, Voulgaridou AI, Kokkalis AC, Antonelou MH, Papassideri IS. Pathophysiological aspects of red blood cells in end-stage renal disease patients resistant to recombinant human erythropoietin therapy. Eur J Haematol 2017; 98:590-600. [DOI: 10.1111/ejh.12875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hara T. Georgatzakou
- Department of Biology; Section of Cell Biology & Biophysics; School of Science; National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA); Athens Greece
| | - Vassilis L. Tzounakas
- Department of Biology; Section of Cell Biology & Biophysics; School of Science; National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA); Athens Greece
| | - Anastasios G. Kriebardis
- Department of Medical Laboratories; Faculty of Health and Caring Professions; Technological and Educational Institute (TEI) of Athens; Athens Greece
| | - Athanassios D. Velentzas
- Department of Biology; Section of Cell Biology & Biophysics; School of Science; National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA); Athens Greece
| | - Effie G. Papageorgiou
- Department of Medical Laboratories; Faculty of Health and Caring Professions; Technological and Educational Institute (TEI) of Athens; Athens Greece
| | | | | | - Marianna H. Antonelou
- Department of Biology; Section of Cell Biology & Biophysics; School of Science; National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA); Athens Greece
| | - Issidora S. Papassideri
- Department of Biology; Section of Cell Biology & Biophysics; School of Science; National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA); Athens Greece
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Proteins behaving badly. Substoichiometric molecular control and amplification of the initiation and nature of amyloid fibril formation: lessons from and for blood clotting. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2017; 123:16-41. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2016.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Revised: 08/14/2016] [Accepted: 08/19/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
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Measurement of the bending elastic modulus in unilamellar vesicles membranes by fast field cycling NMR relaxometry. Chem Phys Lipids 2016; 201:21-27. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chemphyslip.2016.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2016] [Revised: 09/22/2016] [Accepted: 10/31/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Pretorius E, Akeredolu OO, Soma P, Kell DB. Major involvement of bacterial components in rheumatoid arthritis and its accompanying oxidative stress, systemic inflammation and hypercoagulability. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2016; 242:355-373. [PMID: 27889698 PMCID: PMC5298544 DOI: 10.1177/1535370216681549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We review the evidence that infectious agents, including those that become dormant within the host, have a major role to play in much of the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis and the inflammation that is its hallmark. This occurs in particular because they can produce cross-reactive (auto-)antigens, as well as potent inflammagens such as lipopolysaccharide that can themselves catalyze further inflammagenesis, including via β-amyloid formation. A series of observables coexist in many chronic, inflammatory diseases as well as rheumatoid arthritis. They include iron dysregulation, hypercoagulability, anomalous morphologies of host erythrocytes, and microparticle formation. Iron dysregulation may be responsible for the periodic regrowth and resuscitation of the dormant bacteria, with concomitant inflammagen production. The present systems biology analysis benefits from the philosophical idea of "coherence," that reflects the principle that if a series of ostensibly unrelated findings are brought together into a self-consistent narrative, that narrative is thereby strengthened. As such, we provide a coherent and testable narrative for the major involvement of (often dormant) bacteria in rheumatoid arthritis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Etheresia Pretorius
- 1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Arcadia, Pretoria 0007, South Africa
| | - Oore-Ofe Akeredolu
- 1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Arcadia, Pretoria 0007, South Africa
| | - Prashilla Soma
- 1 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Arcadia, Pretoria 0007, South Africa
| | - Douglas B Kell
- 2 School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.,3 The Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M1 7DN, UK.,4 Centre for Synthetic Biology of Fine and Speciality Chemicals, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M1 7DN, UK
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Bester J, Pretorius E. Effects of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 on erythrocytes, platelets and clot viscoelasticity. Sci Rep 2016; 6:32188. [PMID: 27561337 PMCID: PMC4999875 DOI: 10.1038/srep32188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 216] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Complex interactions exist between cytokines, and the interleukin family plays a fundamental role in inflammation. Particularly circulating IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 are unregulated in systemic and chronic inflammatory conditions. Hypercoagulability is an important hallmark of inflammation, and these cytokines are critically involved in abnormal clot formation, erythrocyte pathology and platelet hyper-activation, and these three cytokines have known receptors on platelets. Although these cytokines are always unregulated in inflammation, we do not know how the individual cytokines act upon the structure of erythrocytes and platelets, and which of the viscoelastic clot parameters are changed. Here we study the effects of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 at low physiological levels, representative of chronic inflammation, by using scanning electron microscopy and thromboelastography. All three interleukins caused the viscoelastic properties to display an increased hypercoagulability of whole blood and pathology of both erythrocytes and platelets. The most pronounced changes were noted where all three cytokines caused platelet hyper-activation and spreading. Erythrocyte structure was notably affected in the presence of IL-8, where the morphological changes resembled that typically seen in eryptosis (programmed cell death). We suggest that erythrocytes and platelets are particularly sensitive to cytokine presence, and that they are excellent health indicators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janette Bester
- Department of Physiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
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Kell DB, Kenny LC. A Dormant Microbial Component in the Development of Preeclampsia. Front Med (Lausanne) 2016; 3:60. [PMID: 27965958 PMCID: PMC5126693 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2016.00060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Accepted: 11/04/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Preeclampsia (PE) is a complex, multisystem disorder that remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy. Four main classes of dysregulation accompany PE and are widely considered to contribute to its severity. These are abnormal trophoblast invasion of the placenta, anti-angiogenic responses, oxidative stress, and inflammation. What is lacking, however, is an explanation of how these themselves are caused. We here develop the unifying idea, and the considerable evidence for it, that the originating cause of PE (and of the four classes of dysregulation) is, in fact, microbial infection, that most such microbes are dormant and hence resist detection by conventional (replication-dependent) microbiology, and that by occasional resuscitation and growth it is they that are responsible for all the observable sequelae, including the continuing, chronic inflammation. In particular, bacterial products such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), also known as endotoxin, are well known as highly inflammagenic and stimulate an innate (and possibly trained) immune response that exacerbates the inflammation further. The known need of microbes for free iron can explain the iron dysregulation that accompanies PE. We describe the main routes of infection (gut, oral, and urinary tract infection) and the regularly observed presence of microbes in placental and other tissues in PE. Every known proteomic biomarker of "preeclampsia" that we assessed has, in fact, also been shown to be raised in response to infection. An infectious component to PE fulfills the Bradford Hill criteria for ascribing a disease to an environmental cause and suggests a number of treatments, some of which have, in fact, been shown to be successful. PE was classically referred to as endotoxemia or toxemia of pregnancy, and it is ironic that it seems that LPS and other microbial endotoxins really are involved. Overall, the recognition of an infectious component in the etiology of PE mirrors that for ulcers and other diseases that were previously considered to lack one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B. Kell
- School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- The Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- Centre for Synthetic Biology of Fine and Speciality Chemicals, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- *Correspondence: Douglas B. Kell,
| | - Louise C. Kenny
- The Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research (INFANT), University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
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