Characteristic Changes in the Density and Shear Viscosity of Human Blood Plasma with Varying Protein Concentration

Abstract

The density and shear viscosity of human blood plasma and their dependence on the concentration of proteins (albumin, y-globulin, fibrinogen, etc.) entering the natural blood composition have been studied. The biomaterial concentration is varied by diluting the blood plasma with the isotonic aqueous solution. It is shown that a decrease in the biomaterial concentration down to 0.91 of its initial value leads to a drastic change in the plasma density and to a change in the character of the concentration dependence of the shear viscosity of blood plasma. A hypothesis is put forward that the observed changes in the density and shear viscosity result from the structural transformations induced by oligomerization processes; first of all, by the albumin dimerization. A conclusion is drawn that the introduced blood substitutes should not exceed 10% of the blood mass; otherwise, structural transformations of a biomaterial in blood plasma can be provoked.