Adsorption Hemolysis 



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140 (2100) 



Adsorption hemolysis. 



By R. G. GREEN and C. W. STOMBERG. 



[From the Department of Bacteriology, University of Minnesota, 

 Minneapolis, Minnesota.] 



This report concerns the mechanism of action of certain hemo- 

 lytic agents which have the property of lowering surface ten- 

 sion, examples of which are castor oil soap and saponin. These 

 belong to a general class of substances which reduce the surface 

 tension of their solutions according to the formula 



y = surface tension at any concentration. 

 x = concentration of (hemolytic) solute. 

 y i =r surface tension of liquid solvent. 

 Y 2 = surface tension of saturated surface. 



1c — constant, the value of which depends upon the relative distribution 

 of the solute in the body and surface of the solvent. 



In these preliminary investigations erythrocytes from sheep 

 have been placed in normal salt solutions containing known con- 

 centrations of the hemolytic substance, the time of hemolysis 

 being carefully measured by means of a stop watch and a well 

 defined end point. The surface tensions of solutions of hemo- 

 lytic substance in the concentrations used were also measured. 

 It was found, as is evident from the formula, that as the con- 

 centrations of hemolytic substance increased, the surface tension 

 of the solution dropped from that of the pure solvent to the 

 value always obtained for a very concentrated solution of the 

 substance. 



It has been observed that as the concentration of the hemolytic 

 substance increased, the time of hemolysis decreased until it 

 reached a fairly constant value. The significant observation is 

 that the time of hemolysis and the surface tension reach a fairly 

 constant value at the same concentration of hemolytic substance. 

 As the surface tension is dependent upon surface concentration 

 we may say that the time of hemolysis decreases as long as the 

 surface can adsorb more hemolytic agent, and that when the 

 surface is relatively saturated the time of hemolysis is no longer 



