SPECIFIC BEHAVIOUR OF THE BLOOD SEDIMENTATION PROCESSES EXAMINED BY THE ELECTROCHEMICAL IMPEDANCE MICROSENSOR

Electrochemical impedance microsensor for the fast monitoring of the blood sedimentation has been developed. Planar microsensor consisted of the interdigital array of electrodes (IDAE - finger/gap widths of different values from 5/5 μm to 400/400 μm) based on Au or Pt thin films sputtered on Si/SiO2 or ceramic alumina substrates. IDAE microsensor allows time measurements of electrical impedance changes - impedance rates - (at frequencies of order 0.1 kHz and 10 kHz) of small blood drop applied on it. The determination of the impedance rate during sedimentation and the impedance spectrometry at a low-frequency range of order of 1 kHz seems to be very helpful for a quick diagnostics of the health state. In the IDAE microsensor erythrocyte aggregation/rapid settling/packing periods associated with dryperiod are overlapping due to the planar arrangement of dimensions in order of 1-100 μm. The time monitoring of the blood sedimentation (in the range of 10-900 seconds) by the impedance method can distinguish between healthy and cancer state of blood and could serve for the simple long-term diagnostics after the surgical operation or as a screening procedure for early diagnoses

Expression of Constitutive Nitric Oxide Synthase Isoforms in Varicose Vein Wall; Preliminary Results

There are conflicting findings in literature about the structural changes of the primary varicose veins. NO (a potent vasodilatator) is synthesized by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). From 3 known NOS isoforms the two are constitutional: eNOS (endothelial NOS) and nNOS (neuronal NOS). 10 varicose and 10 control vein samples were processed by standard light microscopy and immuno-histochemica techniques using rabbit polyclonal antibodies against eNOS and nNOS. Antibodies expression was evaluated semiquantitatively and proved morphometrically by 2D-image analysis. total area of NOS isoforms expressions was determined by color analysis and color digital subtraction. The results showed discontinuous and significantly lower expression of both NOS isoforms the in the tunica media of varicose veins compared with the control group. For the statistical analysis the unpaired t-test was used. Our results suppose lower NO levels in varicose vein wall, deducing that varicose dilatation is due to other mechanism, and they contradict the results of previously published similar works