Estabilidade de membrana de eritrócitos em pacientes com sepse, choque séptico e desordens hipertensivas da gestação

Abstract

Sepsis is a syndrome characterized by exacerbation of metabolic and immune responses to an infection and the increase in red-cell distribution width (RDW), could be a marker of mortality in patients with sepsis and septic shock. Objective: To evaluate the osmotic stability of erythrocytes in subjects with sepsis or septic shock. Methods: Ninety-nine men, 49 healthy subjects, 25 with sepsis and 25 with septic shock, participated in this study. The osmotic stability of the erythrocyte membrane was characterized by the concentration of NaCl in which hyposmotic lysis begins (H0) and reaches 50% (H50) and 100% (H100) of the erythrocyte population, and by the variation in saline concentration between H0 and H100 (dX). Results: Lower values of H0, H50 and H100, which means greater osmotic stability of erythrocytes; and lower levels of hemoglobin, erythrocyte counts and values of hematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and/or mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, indicating a tendency to anemia or anemia; and higher values of RDW, were found in sepsis and septic shock. Positive associations were found between variables of erythrocyte stability, anemia and inflammation, and between RDW values and death risk. Conclusion: The higher osmotic stability of erythrocytes in this population was associated with anemia and inflammation, and higher RDW values were associated with a greater chance of death.