Superoxide anion and drug-induced hemolysis

Superoxide anion, either generated during the autooxidation of dihydroxyfumaria acid or by the interaction of 1,4-naphthoquinone-2-sulfonate and intracellular hemoglobin in red cells pretreated with the intracellular superoxide dismutase inhibitor, diethyldithiocarbamate, produces structural changes in red cells hemoglobin and hypotonic lysis. No evidence for lipid peroxidation was found in red cells exposed to either 1,4 naphthoquinone-2-sulfonate in the presence of diethyldithiocarbamate or to dihydroxyfumaric acid, although the membranes of these cells exposed to either 1,4 naphthoquinone-2-sulfonate in the presence of diethyldithiocarbamate or to dihydroxyfumaric acid, although the membranes of these cells retained a green pigment. These results suggest that superoxide anion reacts with cellular hemoglobin to form hemoglobin breakdown products which bind to the red cell membrane and thereby increase the osmotic fragility of the cell.