Glycolysis of heat damaged red cells in relation to common blood groups.

A study of glycolysis of red cells heated in their own plasma for 10 min at 48° has shown that heat treatment alone increased total glucose utilization of AB cells by 12%, A cells by 11%, B cells by 9·3% and O cells by 11·9%. Subsequent incubation for 3 hours at 37° further increased glycolysis by an additional 88% for AB cells, 39% for A cells, 68% for B cells and 41% for O cells, indicating that the rate of increased glucose utilization of the cells examined was quantitatively related to the degree of initial stimulation during heating. Aerobic glycolysis increased by 40% to 55% in AB, A and O cells during heating; B cells showed only a 10% increase. Incubation at 37° following heating reversed the heat stimulus. AB and A cells now showed a decrease of 33% and 36% while both B and O cells only showed a reduction of 17%. Lactate/glucose ratios are lowered both after heating and after subsequent incubation at 37°. ATP levels were reduced between 4% and 9% by heating at 48°. The greatest reduction occurred in the A cells, which also showed the greatest increase in glycolysis during this period. Subsequent incubation increased the ATP deficit to about 14% for B and O cells, 7% for AB cells but 39% for A cells. The possible implications of the findings are discussed.