Hypercholesterolemic patients have higher eryptosis and erythrocyte adhesion to human endothelium independently of statin therapy

Background Phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization out of the membrane facilitates the eryptotic erythrocytes (EE) binding to endothelial cells (EC), potentially leading to atherosclerosis. Thus, the levels of eryptosis and interactions of EE–EC in hypercholesterolemic patients, either non‐medicated or medicated, compared with healthy subjects were studied. Methods A total of 56 subjects clustered into three groups: (control (n = 20), hypercholesterolemic non‐treated (HCNT) (n = 15), and statin‐treated (HCT) (n = 21)) were enrolled in this cross‐sectional study. Biochemical parameters were determined with validated and standard methods. PS exposure was estimated from annexin‐V‐binding, cell volume from forward scatter (FSC), and GSH from CMFDA fluorescence by flow cytometry. The erythrocyte–EC adhesion assay was performed by using the parallel‐plate flow chamber technique. Results Higher PS externalization and adhesion of erythrocytes to EC (P