Erythrocytes from ozone-exposed mice exhibit decreased deformability.

Injury from short-term exposure to ozone (O3) was detected by a simple test of red blood cell (RBC) filterability. This test measures changes in the ability of the RBC to deform--as occurs during passage through small capillaries. Male CD-1 mice were exposed to 1.0, 0.7, or 0.3 ppm O3 for 4 hr, and blood samples were obtained by heart puncture. RBCs were suspended in Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.4, containing 10 mg/dl glucose. After incubation in air for up to 6 hr, the time required for 2 ml RBC suspension to pass through a 3-micron-pore-size polycarbonate filter was determined. A significant increase in the 6-hr filtration time for O3-exposed (1.0 ppm) mice over unexposed mice and a lack of protection by vitamin E were shown. The increases in RBC filtration times for O3-exposed mice appeared to be dose related. Ozone exposure (1.0 ppm) caused a significant increase in the hematocrit of both vitamin E-deficient and -supplemented mice. Vitamin E supplementation appeared to partially prevent this increase in hematocrit. Measurement of lipid peroxidation by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test revealed no detectable levels of TBA-reactive material in RBC from O3-exposed mice. These results suggest that measurement of RBC filterability may be feasible as a clinical test for short-term injury from exposure to oxidant gases.