[The correlation between the activity of free-radical peroxidation and erythrocyte hemolysis in experimental thermal...

Increased concentration of the products of red-cell free-radical oxidation (FRO), i.e. of malondialdehyde (MDA) and of Schiff bases in red cells and of their hemolysis was recorded in the acute period of experimental thermic injury. Alpha-tocopherol applied after thermic injury suppressed FRO and restricted red cell hemolysis. A strong positive correlation was recorded between hemolysis and MDA (r = 0.97) and between hemolysis and Schiff bases (r = 0.88). This high-grade positive correlation between hemolysis and content of secondary and end products of FRO, as well as their decrease after alpha-tocopherol treatment give grounds to admit that activated peroxidation processes in red cells play a definite role for destabilization of their membranes. The role of hemolysis for secondary FRO activation and for implication of the whole organism in the overall pathologic process, the burn disease, is discussed.