**6. Discussion**

Zeta potential (ZP) is an electrochemical property of cell surfaces that is determined by the net electrical charge of molecules exposed at the surface of cell membranes. Membrane proteins contribute to the total net electrical charge of cell surfaces and can alter ZP through changes in their intermolecular interactions [22]. Erythrocyte is one of the earliest and extensively analyzed blood cells in blood physiological and clinical studies [23]. The erythrocyte membrane is negatively charged and the major contributor to the negative ZP of RBCs is sialic acid, which is abundantly present on the RBC surface [24, 25]. This negative charge on the RBC surface is believed to prevent RBC aggregation [25]. The physiologic changes during normal pregnancy affect red cell aggregation [26]. The aggregation properties of the cells depend, in turn, on the shape and concentration of red blood cells (RBCs) as well as the presence of sticky proteins [27]. In a cross-sectional study, Ozanne et al. demonstrated that red cells aggregation increases during the course of normal pregnancy [28]. Whereas, in preeclampsia red blood cell aggregation is further increased when compared with normotensive pregnant women; this increase could be due to either the changes in fibrinogen system or functional abnormalities of erythrocyte membranes [22]. Andrea et al. observed that erythrocyte aggregation was increased in all the hypertensive pregnant patients compared with the normotensive pregnant controls, regardless of both the onset (chronic or pregnancy-induced) of hypertension and the status of plasma macromolecules. Thus, concluded that increased erythrocyte aggregation may be due to either conformational changes of the membrane occurring during hypertension or a redistribution of the ionic charges on the two surfaces of the membrane [23]. The membrane zeta potential and the morphology are the important structural and functional parameters of erythrocytes. They affect the deformability and the circulation of erythrocytes in a blood vessel. On the other hand, they influence the affinity, aggregation, metabolism and immunity of the cell [25]. Accordingly, in this study, we performed systematic measurements of the membrane zeta potential during preeclampsia and comparison was done between blood samples from pregnant women as control vs. preeclampsia patients.

### **7. Conclusion**

The zeta potential values of the erythrocytes of pregnant women and preeclampsia patients were determined by cell electrophoresis technique using zeta meter system 4.0. Zeta potential (ZP) is a characteristic signature for the diagnosis of hemolytic diseases, studies of membrane permeability, and alterations leading to destruction of erythrocytes. To investigate the properties of the erythrocyte membrane, we examined the zeta potential measurements for the surfaces of erythrocyte of preeclampsia patients during each trimester. The electrochemical potential value obtained for preeclampsia patient erythrocytes was found to be reduced in comparison with the normal pregnant women erythrocyte. Thus it is concluded that increased erythrocyte aggregation may be due to either conformational changes of the membrane occurring during hypertension or a redistribution of the ionic charges on the two surfaces of the membrane and hence reduces the zeta potential of preeclampsia patients' erythrocytes. Measurement of zeta potential is an easy and relatively quick way to detect molecular changes that have occurred on the membrane surface of erythrocytes.

**99**

**Author details**

Nagpur, Maharashtra, India

provided the original work is properly cited.

Megha N. Karemore\* and Jasmine G. Avari

*Alteration in Zeta Potential of Erythrocytes in Preeclampsia Patients*

The authors would like to thank Dalvi memorial hospital and research center, Nagpur and Daga memorial hospital, Nagpur for their support during the

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85952*

**Acknowledgements**

research work.

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, R. T. M. Nagpur University,

\*Address all correspondence to: meghakaremore0687@gmail.com

*Alteration in Zeta Potential of Erythrocytes in Preeclampsia Patients DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85952*
