Alterations in The Functional and Structural Properties of Erythrocytes Due to Alcohol Intoxication; Correction of Disorders

Abstract

Alcohol abuse is among the leading reasons for disability and accounts for at least 5% of the global health burden. This study aims to define changes in the functional and structural properties of erythrocytes in chronic ethanol intoxication and to design methods for correction of the identified disorders. The experiments has been conducted on 93 healthy sexually mature and newborn Wistar rats. Acute and chronic alcohol intoxication has been designed by forced intragastric administration of 20% ethanol solution at a dose of 3 ml/kg (2.92 g/kg) on a daily basis for 5, 30 and 60 days. From the newborn animals we obtained allogeneic hepatocytes and their cultural fluid, from which proteins were isolated. The proteins of allogeneic hepatocyte and the combined administration of immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective and antioxidant agents were used to correct disorders in chronic intoxication. The membranes of circulating erythrocytes were obtained by the method of Dodge; electrophoretic separation of membrane proteins was carried out according to the method of Laemli. The lipid content in the erythrocyte membrane was determined by liquid thin-layer chromatography. It has been elucidated that in presence of chronic alcohol intoxication there is a change in the content of the membrane proteins in circulating erythrocytes, which are responsible for flexibility and shaping, intrinsic cellular metabolism, stabilization and structure formation, and a disruption in the lipids representativeness and ratio that form the basis for the lipid framework of the plasmalemma and play the major role in arrangement of protein macromolecules and the normal metabolism of red blood cells as well. When analyzing the corrective activity of the proteins of allogeneic hepatocytes and the combination Glutoxim + Mexidol + Heptral, we have established their high efficiency towards the disorders in the functional and structural properties of circulating erythrocytes caused by chronic alcohol intoxication.