[Intravital survival and deformability of weakly amidinated rat erythrocytes]

Rat erythrocytes previously labelled with 51Cr were treated with 0.1 mM and 0.5 mM dimethyladipic imidate (ADE) pH 9.5, respectively, or with borate buffer pH 9.5 for 15 minutes each. After reinjection into rats of amidinated or nonamidinated erythrocytes their elimination form the streaming blood was followed for 50 days (0.1 mM ADE) or 38 days (0.5 mM ADE). During the 1st day about 10% of amidinated erythrocytes were sequestered. There was no increased initial elimination rate of borate incubated red blood cells detectable. During the following period the elimination rate of erythrocytes amidinated with 0.5 mM ADE was slightly greater than in the case of erythrocytes treated with 0.1 mM ADE. The mean life span of 0.5 mM ADE-erythrocytes was shorter compared with the controls and with 0.1 mM ADE-erythrocytes. Red blood cells previously treated with 0.5 mM ADE are significantly less deformable. Presumably, the stiffness of amidinated erythrocytes causes their increased elimination rate.