Further Studies on Eosin Hemolysis

Additional experimental work on the subject of eosin hemolysis has been carried out. This indicates that red cells may be protected against the toxic action of eosin in sunlight by the presence of inorganic reducing agents. It is pointed out that a marked parallelism exists between the substances which react with the Folin and Denis reagent and the compounds which afford protection to red cells against the photodynamic action of eosin. The property which is possessed in common by all of the substances is that they are easily oxidized, and their ability to protect red cells lies in their power of reduction. The toxic action of eosin probably involves the oxidation of tyrosine and tryptophane which are contained in the protein molecules of the stroma.