Significantly reduced blood flow in tissue and organs is a major complication of diabetes causing multiple systemic organ complications and leading to blindness, kidney failure, and amputations. Approximately 17 million people in the United States, or 6.2% of the population, have diabetes. Treatment of poor tissue and organ circulation is extremely important for these millions of patients suffering from diabetic complications.

Retina with diabetic complications

Dr. Marina V. Kameneva and her research team have undertaken a project to develop and experimentally evaluate a novel concept for the enhancement and complete restoration of the reduced blood flow in small blood vessels in diabetes. The concept is based on the ability of special blood-soluble polymers to confer extraordinary fluidity to blood. This slippery blood can flow in critical organs by easily "sliding" through small arteries and capillaries. Currently, there is no single pharmaceutical available which alters the biophysical properties of the blood and which, when injected in extremely low concentrations, profoundly enhances the supply of critical oxygen to organs and tissues. Dr. Kameneva and her team believe that these polymers will enhance/restore tissue and organ blood circulation, which is significantly diminished in diabetes.

Decreased erythrocyte deformability and increased erythrocyte aggregation and blood viscosity are present in diabetic patients and are considered to be a possible factor in the pathological mechanism of impaired microcirculation. A possible explanation of the intravascular drag reducing phenomena is the effect of DRPs on RBC deformability. Dr. Kameneva and her team hypothesize that the DRPs will increase deformability of red blood cells (RBCs) impaired by diabetes.

The deformability of RBCs is tested using a well-established RBC filtration technique commonly used in clinical investigations in the assessment of deformability of a population of RBCs where RBCs are passed through straight channel membrane filters which require deformation of the cells to pass. Additionally, flow studies of RBCs are being performed in flow channels similar in size to small vessels where deformation is analyzed using image analysis.

Straight channel membrane filter

With these techniques, Dr. Kameneva hopes to demonstrate that these polymers are a new class of bioengineering medicine never before considered as a potential treatment for microcirculatory disorders associated with diabetes.