Shear Stress ‐Induced Total Blood Trauma in Multiple Species

Abstract The common complications in heart failure patients with implanted ventricular assist devices (VADs) include hemolysis, thrombosis, and bleeding. These are linked to shear stress‐induced trauma to erythrocytes, platelets, and von Willebrand factor (vWF). Novel device designs are being developed to reduce the blood trauma, which will need to undergo in vitro and in vivo preclinical testing in large animal models such as cattle, sheep, and pig. To fully understand the impact of device design and enable translation of preclinical results, it is important to identify any potential species‐specific differences in the VAD‐associated common complications. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of shear stress on cells and proteins in bovine, ovine, and porcine blood compared to human. Blood from different species was subjected to various shear rates (0–8000/s) using a rheometer. It was then analyzed for complete blood counts, hemolysis by the Harboe assay, platelet activation by flow cytometry, vWF structure by immunoblotting, and function by collagen binding activity ELISA (vWF : CBA). Overall, increasing shear rate caused increased total blood trauma in all tested species. This analysis revealed species‐specific differences in shear‐induced hemolysis, platelet activation, and vWF structure and function. Compared to human blood, porcine blood was the most resilient and showed less hemolysis, similar blood counts, but less platelet act...
Source: Artificial Organs - Category: Transplant Surgery Authors: Tags: Main Text Source Type: research