Biological and environmental factors affecting ultrasound-induced hemolysis in vitro: 3. Antioxidant (Trolox) inclusion.

Abstract This project tested the hypothesis that human erythrocytes pretreated with Trolox® (a water-soluble analog of vitamin E) would be more susceptible to ultrasound (US)-induced hemolysis by a cavitational mechanism because of an increased fragility of the erythrocyte membrane over that without Trolox® supplementation. Samples of whole human blood from apparently healthy donors (hematocrit ∼ 40%) in vitro were supplemented or not supplemented with Trolox® at various concentrations, ranging from 1.8 to 0.0018 mg/mL plasma. Mechanical fragility tests indicated the Trolox®-treated blood in vitro exhibited greater hemolysis than untreated blood in vitro ( p in vitro than non-Trolox®-supplemented blood; at 3 MHz, there was a substantial reduction in hemolysis relative to that obtained at 1 MHz, and no statistically significant difference between the Trolox®-supplemented and –unsupplemented blood. There was also essentially no support for an alternative hypothesis that the Trolox® was functioning primarily as a pro-oxidant. These collective experimental results support the hypothesis and suggest duality in the functionality of membranous antioxidant inclusions or associations; they may foster protection against oxidative damage, yet render the cell less capable of withstanding mechanical stress. (E-mail: Morton_Miller@urmc.rochester.edu)