Properties of vitamin E-deficient erythrocytes following peroxidant injury.

Several membrane properties of vitamin E-deficient and normal erythrocytes were studied after incubation of these cells with hydrogen peroxide. Measurements of mean corpuscular volume, cation permeability, membrane Na+, K+ ATPase activity, red cell filterability through 5 mu millipore filters, and membrane protein pattern on sodium dodecyle sulfate-gel electrophoresis revealed marked alterations before lysis. Vitamin E sufficient cells were unaffected by a similar incubation with hydrogen peroxide. We speculate that the changes in membrane function, which follow peroxidant injury, contribute to the shortened red cell survival in the vitamin E deficient state.