THE EFFECT OF AGE ON THE ELECTROLYTES 



IN THE RED BLOOD CELLS OF DIFFERENT 



SPECIES 



M. J. Karvonen 



Department of Physiology, Institute of Occupational Health, 

 Helsinki 



Two kinds of age changes may occur in the red blood cells. 

 The erythrocytes themselves have a definite length of life 

 which may be determined in various ways, whereas the 

 longevity of "fixed" tissue cells generally cannot be as 

 exactly indicated. Thus, as cells erythrocytes may be 

 "young" or "old". On the other hand, like any other cells 

 of the body, the red cells may be a part of a young or of an 

 old organism. 



Cellular age 



In order to study age changes in the erythrocytes as cells, 

 two principal ways are open. One of them is to produce 

 anaemia, e.g. by bleeding, and thus to stimulate erythropoie- 

 sis, so that a large proportion of the circulating cells will have 

 been produced within a relatively short period. The writer is 

 not aware of any systematic study of the red cell electrolytes 

 throughout the regeneration after acute bleeding. In micro- 

 cytic anaemias of man — which is the type seen also in bleeding 

 anaemia — the concentration of potassium in erythrocytes is 

 lower than normal (Maizels, 1936). In other types of anaemia 

 a change in the opposite direction may occur (Maizels, 1936; 

 Selwyn and Dacie, 1954; McCance and Widdowson, 1956). 

 However, changes in the electrolytes observed in any type of 

 anaemia are not necessarily dependent on the age of the 

 erythrocytes, but may be caused by many other factors 

 associated with anaemia. 



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