Sialic acid content of erythrocytes in uremic patients. Correlation with the age distribution of erythrocytes as assessed by glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase determination.

In a previous study we suggested that an enrichment in young red blood cells (RBC) should occur in the erythrocyte population of uremic-anemic patients. This change in RBC age distribution together with the fact that young cells were reported to be richer in sialic acid would provide an explanation for the observed lack of difference in sialic acid content between patients' and controls' whole erythrocyte populations in spite of an increased neuraminidase activity found to be present in patients' serum. To verify this assumption glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) activity, which is an erythrocyte age index, and sialic acid were determined in low and high density fractions separated by centrifugation of packed cells representing young and old RBC, respectively, from two groups of 8 individuals with chronic renal failure and two groups of controls. GOT was determined also in whole erythrocyte populations. Mean GOT activity was significantly higher in the young fractions compared to the old of both patients' and control RBC (14.9 vs. 7.8 and 12.4 vs. 7.5 IU/g Hb). Activity of the whole RBC population was significantly higher in uremics as compared to controls (11.7 vs. 5.6 IU/g Hb) which is compatible with a lower median erythrocyte age. Mean sialic acid was higher in the young fractions as compared to the old (42.7 vs. 35.3 nmol/10(9) cells in controls and 48.9 vs. 43.0 nmol/10(9) cells in patients). These differences together with an enrichment in young cells would compensate for the eventual loss of sialic acid in the whole population resulting from an increased neuraminidase-like activity in patients' serum.