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U.S. Department of Energy
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KINETICS OF RADIATION-INDUCED HEMOLYSIS OF HUMAN RED BLOOD CELLS

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4757149

The rate of hemolysis of red blood cells in aqueous suspension by gamma radiation was found to be dependent on absorbed dose. Red blood cells thus provide a relatively simple biological system for studying the efficiency of chemical compounds as radiation protective agents. Data are presented from measurements of the kinetics of radioinduced hemolysis of human red blood cells suspended in isotonic saline. An exponential relationship was found between absorbed dose and the time required for half the cells to hemolyze. It is postulated that the damage to the cell that ultimately results in hemo1ysis is caused by free radicals, that a cell can undergo numerous reactions with the radicals giving rise to a cell that is visibly unchanged but chemically modified, that all the reactions between radical and cell are bimolecular with equal rate constants, and that the time it takes a cell to hemolyze is a function of the number of reactions it has undergone. A formula is presented for calculating the reactions between radicals and cells, and analogous reactions can be written for each of the added chemical substances. Data are presented on the effects of valine, histidine, tryptophan, and erioglaucine on hemolysis of red blood cells at various times after irradiation. Results show that the addition of a protective agent will afford protection from radioinduced hemolysis. (C.H.) E ABSTRACTS Vol- 10, No- 24A

Research Organization:
General Electric Co. Hanford Atomic Products Operation, Richland, Wash.
DOE Contract Number:
AT(45-1)-1350
NSA Number:
NSA-16-032725
OSTI ID:
4757149
Report Number(s):
HW-SA-2638
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English