Shape changes of GSH-treated erythrocytes during complement-induced hemolysis.

Shape changes of GSH-treated human erythrocytes during the acidified serum test were examined by a differential interference microscope. A time-course study of the erythrocytes undergoing complement-mediated hemolysis revealed two kinds of hemolytic processes. One is rapid hemolysis, in which GSH-treated erythrocytes are transformed into spherical forms prior to hemolysis. The other process is gradual or slow hemolysis of a small proportion of GSH-treated erythrocytes. In this process, the erythrocytes are transformed into echinocytes and then into spheroechinocytes prior to hemolysis. However, echinocytic shape changes are not an absolute prerequisite to hemolysis, since echinocytes are not always transformed into a prelytic spherical form, but some of them are reversed to discocytes. Under the experimental conditions of this study, rapid hemolysis of spherical erythrocytes is the main mechanism of hemolysis.