Which plasma protein is known to promote rouleaux formation and elevate ESR?

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Multiple Choice

Which plasma protein is known to promote rouleaux formation and elevate ESR?

Rouleaux form when plasma proteins change the surroundings around red cells so they stack together, causing them to sediment faster. This stacking speeds up the ESR. Fibrinogen is a key plasma protein that promotes these cell-to-cell bridges; it increases during inflammation and raises plasma viscosity, both helping red cells to link and settle more quickly. That’s why higher fibrinogen levels reliably elevate the ESR. Albumin tends to oppose rouleaux formation, and hemoglobin and transferrin don’t promote these bridges in plasma. So the protein best known for promoting rouleaux and raising ESR is fibrinogen.

Rouleaux form when plasma proteins change the surroundings around red cells so they stack together, causing them to sediment faster. This stacking speeds up the ESR. Fibrinogen is a key plasma protein that promotes these cell-to-cell bridges; it increases during inflammation and raises plasma viscosity, both helping red cells to link and settle more quickly. That’s why higher fibrinogen levels reliably elevate the ESR. Albumin tends to oppose rouleaux formation, and hemoglobin and transferrin don’t promote these bridges in plasma. So the protein best known for promoting rouleaux and raising ESR is fibrinogen.

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