title: The influence of very small doses of alpha radiation on the stability of erythrocytes.
abstract: Our aim was to study the influence of low doses (0.2-4 μGy) of α radiation on the stability of human erythrocytes isolated from healthy and diabetic erythrocytes. Absorption spectroscopy was used to measure the level of red blood cell (RBC) hemolysis, along with Mössbauer spectroscopy, which is a highly specific method suited to monitoring various hemoglobin forms. States of hemoglobin are sensitive to a homeostatic imbalance in red blood cells. Changes in the membrane skeleton organization of irradiated erythrocytes isolated from healthy donors were studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Hemolysis, in healthy red blood cells, showed characteristic discontinuities, depending on the α particle flux and the exposure time to the low doses applied. This phenomenon was not observed in severe diabetic cases, which could be a result of modified protein-lipid-sugar complexes and the attenuation/absence of some antioxidative enzymatic processes in their RBC membranes. Similar effects were also observed for red blood cells treated with low doses of neutron and γ-radiation. AFM measurements demonstrated a reorganization of the RBC membrane skeleton network depending on the time of RBC exposure to α radiation. This suggests that the changes in the activity of the acute defense processes against free radicals which are activated within the erythrocyte membrane irradiated with α-particles could additionally be up- or down regulated by modifications to the membrane-skeleton network. However, even the highest dose of α radiation applied in these studies did not cause any significant changes in the ability of hemoglobin to transport oxygen. Microsc. Res. Tech. 80:131-143, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaczmarska
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Dominika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Żydek
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.|SOLARIS, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilkłacz-Potoczny
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fornal
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Gerontology, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grodzicki
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Elżbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kochowska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kozak
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Gocal
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Energy and Fuels, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Władysław
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pohorecki
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matlak
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.|Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry PAN, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Józef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Korecki
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Květoslava
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burda
mesh_terms: D000512:Alpha Particles; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000528:radiation effects; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000378:metabolism; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000528:radiation effects; D006706:Homeostasis / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins
keywords: Mössbauer spectroscopy; atomic force microscopy; membrane skeleton; red blood cell; α-radiation