[Microcalorimetric study of erythrocyte membrane suspensions in normal subjects and in hypertension]

Microcalorimetric method was used to study the temperature dependence of thermal absorption of human red cell membrane suspension in health and essential hypertension. In disease, the temperature dependence of individual irreversible thermoinduced transitions characteristic for human red cell membranes was appreciably changed, which was comparable with disorders of protein-lipid interactions discovered before by fluorescent examination, while elevated enthalpy of one of the transitions pointed to the possibility of enriching these membranes with band 3 protein. Unlike normal, red cell membranes in essential hypertension exhibited a special thermoinduced irreversible transition with the thermoabsorption maximum about 41 degrees C.