Effects of diclofenac-sodium and salicylate, carticaine, lidocaine and procaine in the cadmium- and heat-induced hemolysis.

In the present study we examined the utility, sensitivity and specificity of the cadmium- and heat-induced hemolysis, investigating the effects of diclofenac, salicylate and lidocaine, carticaine and procaine on the rabbit erythrocyte membrane. In the cadmium-induced hemolysis, which has not been reported, as far as we know, as a test model for local anesthetics, the studied local anesthetics have, to a large extent, protective effects on the erythrocyte membranes, probably based on an osmotic action at drug concentrations of 10(-4) to 10(-2) M. On the other hand, these local anesthetics amplify the heat-induced hemolysis to a variable extent. The studied antirheumatic drugs showed in the cadmium-induced hemolysis that they cannot have the same binding sites as the local anesthetics investigated. In the cadmium-induced hemolysis, the reaction products of the antirheumatic drugs with the membrane protein presumably cannot cause an increase in surface area/volume ratio of the erythrocytes, which is generally regarded as a cause for stabilization. This interpretation could be an explanation for the increase of the cadmium-induced hemolysis by the antirheumatic drugs studied. On the other hand, the antirheumatic drugs inhibited to a variable extent the heat-induced hemolysis.