Investigation of electrical and viscoelastic parameters of erythrocytes in patients with autoimmune gastritis

Patients with autoimmune gastritis (AIG) often have anemia of various origins. Hematological disorders usually portend severe atrophy, and in many cases, are the only indicators of the disease. Aim of the study was to investigate the electrical and viscoelastic parameters of erythrocytes in patients with AIG for their possible use in diagnostics. Material and methods. 73 patients with AIG (mean age 55.3 ± 12.54 years) and 38 people of the control group were examined. Electrical and viscoelastic parameters of erythrocytes were studied by dielectrophoresis. Results. Statistically significant decrease in the average cell diameter, the proportion of discocytes cells and an increase in the proportion of spherocytes, deformed forms were found in the group of patients with AIG in combination with Helicobaсter рylori (H. pylori, H.p.) infection compared with healthy individuals. Patients with AIG had significantly lower levels of amplitude of deformation, membrane capacity, dipole moment, speed of cell movement to the electrodes, polarizability at high frequencies of the electric field (106 , 0.5×106 Hz), relative polarizability, and, conversely, higher values of membrane conductivity, aggregation, destruction indexes, summarized viscosity, rigidity, than those in the comparison group. Between groups of patients with and without H. pylori infection, differences were found in indicators reflecting the surface charge of erythrocytes – the speed of movement to the electrodes (p = 0.019), the dipole moment (p < 0.001) and the state of the membranes – its capacity (p = 0.004). The diagnostic model, which includes three parameters of erythrocytes – the dipole moment, the speed of movement to the electrodes, the capacity of the cell membrane, provided high diagnostic accuracy of distinguishing AIG H.p. (+) and H.p. (–) – area under ROC curve AUC 0.925, sensitivity 92.4 %, specificity 89.7 %. Conclusions: Electrical and viscoelastic parameters of erythrocytes are promising in the diagnosis of AIG, including on the background of H. pylori infection. 

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