The Effects of Nucleosides On the Resistance of Normal Human Erythrocytes to Osmotic lysis12

Abstract

The investigations reported in this paper proceeded on the hypothesis that maintenance of the structural integrity of the human erythrocyte is dependent on continued production and utilization of energy by the cell. In an attempt to test this hypothesis the susceptibility of fresh human erythrocytes to osmotic lysis was studied in terms of the influence of various compounds that might serve as substrates for energy yielding reactions within the erythrocyte. Particular attention was paid to glucose (3) and purine nucleosides (4, 7) which have been shown to prolong the viability of stored erythrocytes and to retard their progressive lysis and diminished resistance to hypotonic solutions. It may be noted, however, that the effectiveness of the purine nucleosides in the preservation of erythrocytes has recently been questioned (8 The concentrations of nucleosides were determined spectrophotometrically (9).In several experiments smears of the erythrocyte suspensions were prepared at different stages and stained with Wright's stain. No morphological differences be-1498

The Relationship of the Age of Rabbit Erythrocytes to the Effects of Inosine on their Osmotic Resistance12

“…The finding that inosine enhances the osmotic resistance of rabbit erythrocytes is similar to that previously reported for human erythrocytes (13).…”

“…These effects include enhanced resistance to osmotic lysis (13,18), increased organic phosphate esters within the cells (18), restoration of intracellular potassium (18,19) and sodium concentrations (20), and perhaps slight prolongation of viability of in vitro stored erythrocytes (18,21,22). The decline in the effect of inosine on the osmotic resistance of rabbit erythrocytes which have aged normally in vivo may indicate either a concomitant decline in the ability of the erythrocyte to metabolize the purine riboside or in its ability to utilize the energy produced by the metabolism of inosine as the result of irreversible changes which have occurred in the cell.…”

“…In studies on the relationship of metabolic activity of the erythrocyte to its structural integrity, the resistance of fresh human erythrocytes to osmotic stress has been found to be enhanced after incubation of the erythrocytes with certain purine nucleosides (13). This phenomenon was associated with a considerable uptake and further metabolism of the ribose moiety of the effective purine ribosides (14).…”

Simple Rapid Osmotic Fragility Test Proposed as a Routine in Blood Banks

“…This aspect of the "storage lesion" has been studied extensively by Rapoportlz and was used to estimate the extent of erythrocyte deterioration during storage. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] A rapid micromethod for determination of osmotic fragility by gradual decrease of ionic strength of the medium surrounding the erythrocytes has been described recently.' An instrument ("fragiligraph") for automatic recording of the cumulative and/or the derivative curve was constructed.2 'This method requires less than 0.1 ml.…”

The Reduction of Methemoglobin in Human Erythrocytes Incubated With Purine Nucleosides*†

“…Previous studies in this and other laboratories have demonstrated that normal human erythrocytes can metabolize the pentose moiety of certain purine nucleosides to lactic acid in vitro (9,10). This metabolic activity is associated with enhanced resistance to osmotic stress (11,12), increased organic phosphate esters (11), retention of potassium (11) and extrusion of sodium (13), maintenance of reduced glutathione (14,15) and some prolongation of viability of erythrocytes stored in vitro (11,16,17).…”