Morphofunctional properties of red blood cells and erythropoiesis intensity during 105-day isolation

Abstract

Throughout the 105-day experiment with isolation and confinement, the energy-producing system of red blood cells did not exhibit substantial changes. A compensatory increase in G6PD activity intensified reparative processes in the cell and inhibited lipid peroxidation (LPO). The possibility of LPO activation in the erythrocyte plasma membrane can be inferred from changes in lipid and phospholipid fractions, which testifies to an increase in the membrane microviscosity on days 70 and 105 of the experiment and after its completion. On days 70 and 105, the content of erythropoietin in all test subjects decreased, which points to a reduced erythropoietic activity and a decrease in the content of hemoglobin, erythrocyte count, hematocrit value, and hemoglobin content per erythrocyte. These shifts persisted after the experiment although erythropoietin level was slightly increased on these days. The shifts were adaptive by nature while changes in biochemical values were compensatory reactions aimed at counteracting lipid peroxidation activation by emotional stresses of the experiment.