The role of membrane lipids in forming the electrokinetic properties of red blood cells in solid tumors and psoriasis

Abstract

Aim. Analysis of the electrophoretic mobility of red blood cells in patients with the diseases caused by increased cell proliferation activity, and its relationship with the lipid spectrum of erythrocyte membranes.
 Methods. The blood of 42 patients with malignant tumors of epithelial tissues (colon, kidney, prostate, urine bladder and cervical cancer) and 16 patients with skin diseases was studied. The control group consisted of 20 healthy individuals. Electrophoretic mobility of red blood cells was assessed by microelectrophoresis. Lipid fractions levels in erythrocytes was determined by one-dimensional thin layer chromatography.
 Results. Over than two-fold decrease of electrophoretic mobility of erythrocytes was observed in patients with malignant tumors of epithelial tissues and skin diseases associated with cell proliferation processes (psoriasis) - by 59 and 60%, respectively In inflammatory skin diseases (microbial eczema), the decrease was less pronounced (30%). The contents of charged phospholipid in erythrocyte membranes in case of cancer and psoriasis has changed in a similar way: a significant reduction in sphingomyelin level in the absence of significant differences in phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine levels. Multidirectional statistically significant changes in the contents of lysophosphatidylcholine were revealed depending on the stage of cancer, their level was decreased two-fold in case of psoriasis. The changes of cholesterol, diacylglycerols, free fatty acids levels in the membranes of red blood cells in case of cancer and psoriasis were divergent.
 Conclusion. In diseases caused by cell proliferation activation, electrophoretic mobility of erythrocytes is reduced by more than 50%. Kinetic characteristic of erythrocytes may be used for detecting the conditions of pathologic cell proliferation, including malignant tumors, since they alter in cases of phospholipid membranes lipid spectrum disorders.