Background: Binswanger's disease (BD) has been associated with severe arteriosclerotic changes in the long perforating arteries and with impaired cerebrovascular responsiveness to hypercapnia. Rheology parameters may become important factors in regulating cerebral blood flow. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in rheologic determinants of erythrocytes and to discuss the relation of erythrocytes and white matter lesions in this type of dementia.
Methods: Twenty-eight patients suffering from BD and a control group matched for age, sex and cerebrovascular risk factors were tested for the following hemorheologic variables: erythrocyte deformability, erythrocyte membrane fluidity, erythrocyte aggregation, plasma viscosity and whole blood viscosity. Additionally, red cell membrane metabolic parameters, lipids and individual membrane phospholipids, sialic acid (SA) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, and ATPase activities were measured.
Results: A significant decrease in erythrocyte deformability, erythrocyte membrane fluidity, membrane phosphatidylethanolamine, membrane phosphatidylcholine, membrane SA and membrane ATPase activities, and a significant increase in membrane cholesterol, cholesterol to total phospholipid ratio, MDA, broad viscosity and erythrocyte aggregation were observed in BD patients when compared with those of the matched control group.
Conclusions: Changes in erythrocyte membrane parameters, especially in phospholipids, can produce serious metabolic disorders and influence the rheologic properties of erythrocytes in patients with BD. These alterations can contribute to a circulatory slowdown and may lead to worsening of the condition of the cerebral white matter in these patients.