[Effects of 3 varieties of antisickling substances measured by ektacytometry as a function of oxygen pressure]

The ektacytometer measures with precision the deformability of erythrocytes during a continuous change in oxygen tension. Automation of the instrument renders easily feasible the evaluation of proposed antisickling compounds. Drugs representative of the three modes of action presently recognized have been selected: those which increase oxygen affinity (potassium cyanate); those which inhibit hemoglobin polymerization (butylurea); membrane-active compounds. An anionic phenothiazine (metiazinic acid) had an interesting activity on deformability.