Abstract
The biochemical and functional changes of red cells from fetal to adult characteristics are physiologic events of unknown significance. The developmental changes include membrane composition, structure, and pattern of hemoglobins; electrolyte concentrations; and red cell metabolism. An adult red cell and a fetal red cell differ in these respects. However, it is difficult to define exactly what a fetal cell is, since changes of the different properties (membrane, enzymes, and hemoglobin types) are not strongly correlated to each other or to functional changes. The most inadequate parameter for a definition is its content of fetal hemoglobin (H), since H-containing cells may also occur in or persist into adult life under different conditions, such as in hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin, or in hereditary or acquired hematological disorders. Moreover, erythrocytes in newborn infants containing the adult type of hemoglobin (H) may well have other functional and structural characteristics typical of a fetal cell. Related problems have been reviewed in more detail by Kleihauer (74).
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