Impaired red cell deformability in established adjuvant arthritic disease in rats.

Deformability and fragility of red blood cells (RBC) of established arthritic rats were measured by a filtration technique. They showed a significantly decreased deformability and, accordingly, a considerably increased fragility to micro heat stimulation, induced by laser irradiation. Subacute treatment of arthritic rats with aspirin and indomethacin had no effect on RBC behaviour whereas hydrocortisone restored the deformability of RBC almost to normal. Treatment of RBC of arthritic rats with neuraminidase caused the deformability of the cells to be restored to a supranormal level.