RBC electrophoresis with discontinuous power supply - a newly established hemoglobin release test

In this paper, we aimed to introduce a newly established red blood cells (RBCs) electrophoresis method hemoglobin release test (HRT) and tried to determine its significance. Human blood samples from beta-thalassemia patients and healthy controls were analyzed with HRT, which was carried out on starch-agarose mixed gel. First, the whole blood samples were electrophoresed for 2 h, then paused for 15 min and ran for 15 min by turns. This "pause-run-pause" experiment was performed for several turns and the total electrophoresis time lasted for about 6 h. The results showed that some other hemoglobin (Hb) components were released from the origin of each sample during the HRT, and the samples from beta-thalassemia patients released more Hb than the healthy controls. This finding demonstrates that Hb may exist differently associated in RBCs, and it may have an important theoretical and clinical significance in Hb and RBC research.