In vivo aging of red cell enzymes: study of biotinylated red blood cells in rabbits.

It is generally recognized that the activities of some of the red cell enzymes decline as the cell ages. However, there is still a controversy regarding the rate at which this aging occurs. In the present study we applied newly developed technology for the specific isolation of maturing reticulocytes/erythrocytes for a more comprehensive study of in vivo aging of red cell enzymes in rabbits. Anemia was induced by repeated phlebotomy, and reticulocyte-rich erythrocytes were labeled with N-hydroxy succinimido-biotin and then transfused into a normal rabbit. These biotinylated cells were isolated at various time points by their affinity for an avidin support, and the enzymatic activity of 19 red cell enzymes was measured. We observed a biphasic pattern of decay for the activity of six age-dependent enzymes--aldolase, glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, hexokinase, pyrimidine 5'-nucleotidase, and pyruvate kinase.