Effect of hypoxic hypoxia on the shape and surface of erythrocytes (observations in transmission and scanning electron microscopes)

Abstract

Changes in the surface and intracellular structure of erythrocytes in conjunction with the general morphological picture of the blood were studied experimentally. In hypoxic hypoxia changes take place in mature erythrocytes and in bone-marrow tissue erythroblasts. In the early stages of hypoxia (first to fifth days) the number of erythrocytes, their respiratory surface, and their hemoglobin content all increase. These changes are adaptive. In the later stages of hypoxia (10th–15th days) there is no increase in the number of erythrocytes, the number of reticulocytes falls, and erythroblasts disappear, i.e., the erythroblasts capacity of the bone marrow is exhausted and signs of its decompensation appear. The increase in the number of erythrocytes and the hemoglobin concentration in the blood are the result of stimulation of the function of the erythroid series of the bone marrow, as is shown by an increase in the number of reticulocytes in the peripheral blood and the appearance of erythroblasts.