Erythrocyte sedimentation rate is not as difficult as it looks like. You often heard this term or may be recommended to test by your physician. If you are unfamiliar with the meaning of this biological term and want to get familiar with it, this article will surely help you. It is often named as Biernacki Reaction or sedimentation rate. It is nothing but a rate at which RBCs sediment in test tube within the period of 1 hour.
It is a common test which is done by hematology laboratories to diagnose the patients' disease. The performance of this test is automated. To perform this test a small blood sample is collected, which is anticoagulated and poured in an upright test tube, the Westergren tube. The rate at which the red blood cells are sediment is measured in mm/h and consider as erythrocyte sedimentation rate. This test is fully automated and don't need any physical performance.
Principal of the procedure:
The ESR of an individual depends on the presence of sedimentation factors, which are two;
1. Fibrinogen which support sedimentation
2. Negative charges of RBCs which opposes sedimentation.
ESR is actually taken as a determinant of inflammatory reaction in the body. In fact, amount of fibrinogen increases in inflammation, which enhances stickiness of the RBCs. This process of increase stickiness is called as Rouleaux formation. If blood has more Rouleaux then it will sediment earlier than normal and hence determine inflammation.
Diagnosis of disease:
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate plays role in diagnosis of diseases like it is found to be increased in rheumatoid arthritis and pregnancy, while decreases in polycythemia, hereditary spherocytosis, sickle cell anemia, and congestive heart failure.
Another important thing about erythrocyte sedimentation rate is that basal ESR is higher in females than male.
