Lipids from Plasmodium vinckei-infected erythrocytes and their susceptibility to oxidative damage

The constituent lipids of plasma and red blood cells (RBC) from mice late in infection with the malarial parasite Plasmodium vinckei were analyzed and compared with those obtained from uninfected animals. On a dry weight basis, the total extractable lipids of RBC increased threefold during infection, while those of the plasma did not change significantly. In general, changes in individual plasma lipid constituents paralleled those found in RBC of infected mice but were of smaller magnitude. While the increase in the total lipids of parasitized RBC was largely attributable to an increase of more than fourfold in total phospholipids, a significant increase in neutral lipids was also observed. Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were the major phospholipids present within RBC, and their total and relative concentrations increased as a result of the infection. A parallel increase occurred in the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids in the parasitized RBC phospholipids. Infection was also associated with decreases in the relative amount of cholesterol present in RBC and in the ratio of cholesterol to phospholipid. Consistent with this, the fluorescence polarization of 1[4-(trimethylamino)phenyl]-6-phenylhexa-1,3,5-triene within parasitized RBC plasma membranes was decreased in comparison with its value in noninfected RBC, indicating that malarial infection decreases the "order" of membrane lipids. These modifications, in conjunction with the increased levels of vitamin E and malonyldialdehyde reported elsewhere, are important determinants of the susceptibility of the different membrane compartments within infected RBC to peroxidative damage.