“…The membrane nature of the defect in HS was first suspected from the finding of an increased Na+ permeability in intact erythrocytes, an observation that has been shown consistently (Bertles, 1957;Jacob & Jandl, 1964;Wiley, 1972). Other membrane abnormalities have been described, such as an increased 32p turnover in the phospholipids (Reed, 1968), a reduction in the amount of membrane lipid per cell (Cooper & Jandl, 1969a) and decreased drug-induced endocytosis (Schrier et al, 1974). Despite these defects in membrane function, there have been no gross abnormalities detected with respect to membrane phospholipid distribution or fatty acid composition (de Gier et al , 1964; 0306-3275/82/020259-08$01.50/1 (© 1982 The Biochemical Society Robertson & Lands, 1964), although minor differences in the amounts of long-chain fatty acids in some phospholipid types have been claimed but not substantiated (Kuiper & Livne, 1972;Zail & Pickering, 1979).…”