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The effect of cholesterol and triglycerides on the steady state shear rheology of blood

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Abstract

We examine here the effect of cholesterol and triglycerides on the steady state shear blood flow rheology. We use the recent viscosity data of both high and low cholesterol/triglyceride donors reported by Moreno et al. (Korea-Aust Rheol J 27(1):1–10, 2015). We show that while the Casson model describes well the blood rheology, its model parameters need to be significantly modified from their physiological value expressions developed by Apostolidis and Beris (J Rheol 58(3):607–633, 2014). The modifications are parametrized with indices that all ratios: total cholesterol (TC) to high density pipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) to HDL, and total triglyceride to HDL. These ratios, while they arise here naturally in the fitting of the data, they have all been previously identified as important in medical evaluations to cardiovascular diseases such as atherogenesis and stroke. We thus provide additional evidence for plausible causal link between cholesterol/triglycerides and cardiovascular conditions through their impact on blood flow rheology.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CBET 1033296. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Alex J. Apostolidis & Antony N. Beris

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Antony N. Beris

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  1. Alex J. Apostolidis
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  2. Antony N. Beris
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Correspondence to Antony N. Beris.

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This paper belongs to the special issue on the "Rheology of blood cells, capsules and vesicles".

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Apostolidis, A.J., Beris, A.N. The effect of cholesterol and triglycerides on the steady state shear rheology of blood. Rheol Acta 55, 497–509 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00397-015-0889-0

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