Red blood cell metabolism in men during long term bed rest.

The investigations were carried out on 20 men (aged 32-48), hospitalized after lower extremity fractures, in whom no systemic diseases or disorders were found. The activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6P-DH), aldolase (A1), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and the concentrations of pyruvate, lactate, nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD), nicotinamideadenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP), adenosine-5'-diphosphate (ADP), adenosine -5'-monophosphate (AMP) and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) in erythrocytes taken from patients were estimated. After a two-week hypokinesia G6P-DH, A1, LDH activities and ATP, ADP, AMP concentrations decreased, whereas other estimated parameters did not differ from the control levels. During a 30-day hypokinesia of patients with fractures of the lower extremity a transient decrease of erythrocyte metabolic activity was observed after two weeks. off