THE PERMEABILITY OF HUMAN RED CELLS TO CATIONS AFTER TREATMENT WITH RESORCINOL, n-BUTYL ALCOHOL, AND SIMILAR LYSINS

The form of families of curves relating K loss to time in systems containing hypolytic concentrations of resorcinol and of n-butyl alcohol points to the human red cell's being slightly permeable to K and Na even when it is in isotonic NaCl (or plasma), and to the effect of the hypolytic concentrations of lysin being such as to increase this permeability. The rate of reentry of K into red cells which have lost it is more rapid than the rate of the previous loss. This may be due to the reimmersion of the lysin-treated cells in isotonic KCl producing further modifications of the ion-restricting mechanisms associated with the red cell structure. The volume changes observed in systems which show the large K-Na exchanges produced by resorcinol and by n-butyl alcohol are not the same as those which would be expected on the basis of the dual mechanism of hemolysis hypothesis or of the colloid-osmotic hemolysis hypothesis. Extensive swelling of the red cells occurs only when the concentrations of lysin are large enough to produce considerable hemolysis.