OSMOTIC PROPERTIES OF THE ERYTHROCYTE

II. THE INFLUENCE OF pH, TEMPERATURE, AND OXYGEN TENSION ON HEMOLYSIS BY HYPOTONIC SOLUTIONS

¹ From the Department of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania and the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

1. By the method of osmotic hemolysis an attempt has been made to evaluate the indirect osmotic effects upon mammalian erythrocytes of changes in the pH, temperature, and oxygen tension of the surrounding medium.

2. The observed effects of these three factors, within the range considered, are of the order of magnitude of those predicted by the equation:

[See equation in the PDF file]

where W₁ and W₂ are the amounts of water contained in an erythrocyte under two given conditions, F₁ and F₂ are the amounts of base bound by one equivalent of hemoglobin under the same conditions, C₁ and C₂ are the concentrations of the solutions in question and R is the ratio of base to hemoglobin within the cell. It is probable that the effects of the factors studied are primarily osmotic in nature, though smaller effects of a different sort are by no means excluded.

3. Certain differences between the osmotic behavior of the erythrocyte and that of other cells are discussed.

4. It is shown that pH changes of as little as 0.01 pH unit and temperature changes of as little as 0.5° C. may have a measurable effect upon the observed degree of hemolysis. It follows, therefore, that "fragility" tests and other osmotic studies upon erythrocytes in which these factors are not properly controlled are of little value.

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