Erythrocyte adhesion to the vascular endothelium

Blood cells are in continuous contact with the vascular endothelium. Endothelial cell culture, intravital videomicroscopy allowed the investigation of blood cell-endothelium interactions in dynamic conditions. In the various diseases, diabetes mellitus, sickle cell anemia and malaria, erythrocytes have an increased adhesion to endothelial cells. The presence of advanced glycation end products (AGE) on erythrocytes of diabetics is responsible for their binding to the receptor RAGE present on the endothelium. The AGE-RAGE binding provokes an oxidant stress and induces the expression of the adhesion molecule. Furthermore, erythrocyte AGE induce an increase in vascular permeability. In sickle cell anemia, the increased adhesiveness and the sickling of red blood cells are responsible for thrombosis. Plasmodium falciparum infestation of erythrocytes induces knob formation at the cell surface and the P. falciparum protein binding to CD36, ICAM-1 and thrombospondin present on the endothelium, and facilitates the parasite dissemination.