title: Decreased mechanical stability of neonatal red cell membrane quantified by measurement of the elastic area compressibility modulus.
abstract: Previous studies suggest that early loss of membrane might account for the shortened life-span of neonatal red blood cells (RBC). The elastic area compressibility modulus describes the force required to achieve a defined expansion of the membrane and is thus a suitable intrinsic material property to describe mechanical stability of the RBC membrane. We studied RBC in eight cord blood samples (representing fetal blood), ten 5-day old full-term neonates and seven healthy adults. The RBC were suspended in hypotonic buffer solution and investigated using a modification of the micropipet technique by Evans et al. Cord blood RBC (204+/-33 dyn/cm) and neonatal RBC (209+/-11 dyn/cm) showed a 25% lower elastic area compressibility modulus than adult cells (278+/-26 dyn/cm; p < 0.05). Thus, less force was necessary for expansion of neonatal RBC membrane. We conclude that neonatal RBC are more susceptible to mechanical damage of their membrane than adult cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Heidelberg, Germany. jochen_meyburg@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meyburg
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Böhler
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Linderkamp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D019245:Compressive Strength; D004548:Elasticity; D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged