Spectrophotometric Method Applicable to <i>in vitro </i>Studies of Heinz Body Formation in Erythrocytes

Abstract

A simple quantitative procedure is described for the estimation of Heinz body formation in erythrocytes, based on the spectrophotometric measurement of the amount of crystal violet absorbed by precipitated Heinz bodies. Good correlation is shown between this method and the counting of Heinz body-containing erythrocytes in a microscopical preparation. This technique is particularly applicable to in vitro studies of the comparative effects produced in the erythrocyte by oxidant agents.

An In vivo Drug Screening Model Using Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficient Mice to Predict the Hemolytic Toxicity of 8-Aminoquinolines

“…Heinz bodies were counted by mixing one volume of 10 g/L crystal violet (Sigma-Aldrich) in citrate saline with one volume of whole blood 19 ; this mixture was incubated at 37 C for 60 min before being spread onto a clean glass slide. Each count was performed in triplicate, with a total of 1,000 RBCs being examined for each sample.…”