[Potassium diffusion potentials in fetal erythrocytes and leukocytes in umbilical cord blood]

The potential of the membrane erythrocytes and leucocytes from the fetal umbilical cord blood was studied in order to determine the vitality of cells. The membrane erythrocytes potential was analysed in 11 blood samples of normal deliveries and 3 blood samples of deliveries with the meconium amniotic fluid; the membrane leucocyte potential was examined in 16 blood samples of normal deliveries and 5 blood samples of deliveries with the meconium amniotic fluid. The method used was the indirect fluorescence spectroscopy and the cyanin dye DIO-C5-(3) as the extrinsic fluorescent probe. In deliveries with the meconium amniotic fluid, leucocyte and erythrocyte membranes continue maintaining the potassium potential. The reactions of erythrocytes and leucocytes to the addition of valinomycin are entirely different: in the leucocytes of fetuses with the meconium amniotic fluid the membrane is more polarized than in fetuses from normal deliveries, whereas in the erythrocytes of fetuses with the meconium amniotic fluid the membrane polarization is less pronounced.