Giancarlo Falezza

Cation Content and Membrane Deformability of Heterozygous P-Thalassaemic Red Blood Cells

Summary. The red blood cells of patients heterozygous for 8‐thalassaemia contain less sodium, potassium and water than do normal red cells. Incubation of red cells in plasma at 37°C for 24 hr in the absence of glucose produced the following changes: (1) An increase in the red‐cell sodium content of both normal and thalas‐saemic cells. (2) A decrease in the red cell potassium content which was much more pronounced in thalassaemic than in normal cells. (3) A reduction in the total cation content of the red cells from patients heterozygous for β‐thalassaemia; this reduction seemed to be related to the clinical severity of the disease, as well as the reduction in mean corpuscular volume and osmotic fragility. (4) The trapped plasma values, which reflect the deformability of red cells, were initially greater for thalassaemic red cells than normal cells and in both groups increased after incubation.

Procollagen III peptide and fibronectin in alcohol-related chronic liver disease: Correlations with morphological features and biochemical tests

In order to clarify the significance of procollagen III peptide (PIIIP) and fibronectin (FN) blood concentration in alcohol related chronic liver disease (ALD), we have investigated their relationships with histological liver features and biochemical liver tests in 44 ALD patients. PIIIP was measured in serum by radioimmunoassay whereas FN was determined in plasma using an immunonephelometric method. In each liver biopsy, steatosis, portal infiltrate, lobular necro-inflammation, portal fibrosis and lobular fibrosis were semiquantitatively assessed by scoring from 0 to 3. A close correlation of PIIIP was found with morphological features of fibrosis (both of lobular and portal type), but not with necro-inflammation or steatosis. PIIIP was also positively correlated with ALP and GGT and exhibited a good diagnostic value in liver fibrosis. On the contrary, FN did not distinguish between normals and patients and was not correlated with any morphological liver feature or biochemical liver test. We also conclude that serum NP3P effectively reflects liver fibrosis, whereas plasma FN seems not related to any of the main histological aspects of liver damage in ALD.

A new method for the determination of sodium and potassium in human red blood cells, using indocyanine green as a marker for trapped plasma

A new method for the determination of trapped plasma in packed red cells, using Indocyanine green as a marker, is described. The method was applied to measure sodium and potassium content in human red blood cells. The means of the three parameters studied, calculated from duplicate determinations on 39 normal subjects, are included in the following ranges with a confidence coefficient of 95%: Trapped plasma % = 7.10 ± 2.47; Na+ mequiv/1013 cells = 7.45 ± 3.72; K+ mequiv/1013 cells = 91.15 ± 22.41. Statistical evaluation of the data confirmed the reliability of the method. The results were reproducible and agree well with those obtained by other authors who used radioactive markers. Furthermore the new technique is cheap and requires a short time to set up.