[Thermostability of erythrocyte membranes in the presence of ethanol].

Differential scanning microcalorimetry was used to show a destabilizing effect of ethanol on erythrocyte membrane proteins. The thermostability of the membrane cooperative unit, with the main protein being band 3 integral protein, was decreased most significantly, which was probably related to a disturbance in protein--lipid complementary. At sufficiently high ethanol concentrations the denaturational changes in the membrane proteins resulted in lysis of red blood cells preceeding at several stages: morphological changes in cells, as well as swelling and the lysis, proper. The activation energy of the ethanol-induced lysis as determined from the temperature dependence of the apparent hemolysis rate constant was equal to 150 +/- 20 kJmol-1 at 5.1 M ethanol concentration. This corresponded to the activation energy of the protein denaturation.