[Biophysical mechanisms of the erythrocyte sedimentation reaction]

Is shown, that the process of red blood sedimentation under the conditions of standard measurement of a clinical parameter ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) is multistage and non-monotonous. Red blood sedimentation is preceded by the "latent" period lasting up to tens of minutes. When sedimentation begins, multiple accelerations and decelerations in the movement of the boundary between red blood and clean plasma are observed. The differences in dynamics of red blood sedimentation (DRBS) of healthy donors and patients with sharp myocardial infarction are revealed. The form of DRBS diagrams depends upon metabolic activity of blood. We suggest that DRBS represents the active reaction of blood, as of an integral surviving tissue, on stress factors acting on it under the conditions of ESR determination.