Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
09:45
Amplitude-Modulated Electrodeformation to Evaluate Mechanical Fatigue of Biological Cells
Published on: October 13, 2023
THE ALLEGED EFFECT OF ELECTRICAL STIMULATION ON THE METABOLISM OF RED CELL SUSPENSIONS
The Journal of General Physiology
|October 30, 2009
Summary
Electrical currents through red blood cell suspensions do not increase oxygen consumption. The observed effect is a volume change, not a metabolic process, related to electrode phenomena.
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Electrochemistry
Background:
- Studies suggested electrical currents increased oxygen consumption in red blood cells.
- This was interpreted as a metabolic effect.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cause of the apparent increase in oxygen consumption when electrical currents are applied to red blood cell suspensions.
- To determine if the effect is a true metabolic process or an artifact.
Main Methods:
- Passing alternating current through red blood cell suspensions in buffered NaCl solution.
- Observing changes in volume and oxygen consumption.
- Comparing effects with shiny platinum electrodes versus platinized electrodes.
- Testing solutions of NaCl and serum.
Main Results:
- The apparent increase in oxygen consumption was due to a permanent volume decrease (approx. 1 in 1000), not O(2) utilization.
- Similar volume changes occurred in NaCl solutions.
- Effects were electrode-dependent, occurring with shiny platinum but not platinized electrodes.
- Serum showed a volume increase, also electrode-dependent.
Conclusions:
- The observed phenomenon is not a metabolic effect but an artifact related to electrode surface properties and electrical current passage.
- Electrode phenomena, not oxygen utilization, explain the volume changes in red blood cell suspensions and saline solutions.
- Further research into obscure electrode phenomena is warranted.
