Published in Volume 46, Issue 11 (November 1967)
J Clin Invest. 1967;46(11):1715–1723. doi:10.1172/JCI105662.
Copyright © 1967, The American Society for Clinical Investigation.

Articles

Studies of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria Erythrocytes: Increased Lysis and Lipid Peroxide Formation by Hydrogen Peroxide*

Charles E. Mengel^‡, Herbert E. Kann, Jr.^§ and Wilhelm D. Meriwether^ǁ

Department of Medicine, The Ohio State University, College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio

^‡ Markle Scholar in Academic Medicine, Director, Division of Hematology and Oncology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

^§ Research Fellow, Division of Hematology and Oncology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.

^ǁ Research Trainee, Division of Hematology and Oncology, The Ohio State University University Hospitals, Columbus, Ohio, and Medical Student, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N. C.

^* Received for publication 10 November 1966 and in revised form 10 July 1967.

Published November 1967

When paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) erythrocytes were exposed to H₂O₂ they lysed excessively and formed greater than normal quantities of lipid peroxides when compared to red cells of normal subjects and patients with most types of hematologic disease. It was also shown that lytic sensitivity to acidified serum was related to the enhanced lytic sensitivity to H₂O₂. If the lipid of PNH cells was first extracted then exposed to ultraviolet radiation more lipid peroxides were formed than in extracts of normal red blood cells. The possible explanations for these findings and their relationship to the PNH hemolytic mechanism are discussed.