Red blood cell



Red blood cells (RBCs), or erythrocytes, are the most common type of blood cell in the human body.

Discoctyes are normally shaped red blood cells and stomatocytes are cup-shaped red blood cells which may appear to have a slit shape in the center, like a coffee bean.

In ME/CFS
[[File:Redbloodcells-stomatocytes-discocytes.gif|thumb|Red blood cell shapes. Cup-shaped stomatocytes, next to normal biconcave discoctyes.Citation: Khairy, K., Foo, J. & Howard, J. Cel. Mol. Bioeng. (2008) 1: 173.] Red blood cell abnormalities have been found in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and Gulf War Illness

A small study of veterans with Gulf War Illness found increased deformability (the ability of erythrocytes to change shape under a given level of applied stress without rupturing) along with increased mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW).

A 1989 study found higher numbers of cup-form red blood cells known as stomatocytes in ME patients versus controls.

Studies

 * 1989, Red blood cell morphology in chronic fatigue syndrome.
 * 1991, Red blood cell magnesium and chronic fatigue syndrome.
 * 1994, Normal red cell magnesium concentrations and magnesium loading tests in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.
 * 2004, Autonomic function and serum erythropoietin levels in chronic fatigue syndrome.
 * 2018, Red blood cell deformability is diminished in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
 * 2018, Abnormal rheological properties of red blood cells as a potential marker of Gulf War Illness: A preliminary study.