Abstract
The in vitro effect of O-(β-Hydroxyethyl)-rutosides (HR=Venoruton®) was tested on rat erythrocyte morphology. The morphological alterations of rat erythrocytes were induced by 2 stresses (storage: 6, 8 and 24 hr - temperature: 25 and 37°C), and the evaluation was performed using either the scanning electron microscopy or the optical microscopy methods. For both stresses we observed a clear change of erythrocyte morphology from a normal shape (discocyte) to abnormal shapes (echinocyte and spheroechinocyte). O-(β-Hydroxyethyl)-rutosides was able to prevent these morphological changes for all the experimental conditions, except for the more severe one (storage: 24 hr, temperature: 37°C). It is concluded that HR has a protective effect (in vitro) against rat erythrocyte morphological changes. This may be explained by a membrane stabilizing effect and may explain one of the vasculo-protective effect of this drug in pathological conditions such as chronic venous insufficiency where the compound has been shown to be effective.