Abstract
Elastic and plastic deformation (i.e. flexibility and fragility) of single red blood cell (RBC) membranes were studied microscopically in 5 term and 5 preterm neonates and 10 healthy male adults. Three methods were used: (1) A micropipette system was used to determine the membrane elastic shear modulus (μ) and the tension (T) required for local fragmentation of RBC membrane tongues aspirated into pipettes with internal diameters of 1 μm. (2) The micropipette system was also used to study the rate of plastic growth of RBC membrane tethers at given shear stress and the relaxation behavior of the tethers. (3) A flow channel system was applied to estimate μ and the tether growth rate at given shear stress. Salient results were: (1) The resistance to elastic nembrane deformation (i.e. μ) was approximately 1051 less in term and preterm neonates than in adults. (2) T was 3.8±0.8×10−3 dyn/cm in preterm infants, 6.2±0.7×10−3 dyn/cm in term neonates and 8.1±1.0×10−3 dyn/cm in adults. (3) At a shear stress of 2.5 dyn/cm2 membrane tether growth was 0 in adults, 0.27±0.9 μm/s in term neonates and 0.78±0.15 μm/s in preterm infants. (4) Tethers were partially reversible with recovery times of about 0.5 s in all three groups. The decreased resistance to plastic deformation and fragmentation may contribute to accelerated aging and shorter lifs span of neonatal RBC.
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