Effects of Ethyl Alcohol on Red Blood Cells.

Abstract

The observations present the microscopic changes occurring in human red blood cells when subjected to different dilutions of alcohol in saline. Approximately 50 specimens of blood from various patients were studied and the results obtained conform as a whole. Studies were made by the hanging drop method. Cells deposited in the serum of clotted blood were examined within 4 hours after withdrawal and whole blood was examined immediately following withdrawal. The red cells were diluted so that the suspension contained approximately 4000 per cu. mm.

When the red blood cells were found to be in rouleux formation the alcohol dilutions overcame this formation more quickly than when normal saline was added, and the rapidity of this change in all cases depended upon the concentration of the alcohol.

In one series, various iso-osmotic solutions of alcohol and sodium chloride were employed. In 0.1% alcohol the cells were more rounded and regular and this was more apparent in 0.5% alcohol. In the 1% alcohol, granules were extruded from the cells, coincidently they lost their pigment, became swollen and faded away as shadows.

In the other series, alcohol was diluted with normal saline. In 0.2% (approximately 1.0016 X iso-osmotic) alcohol a cupped appearance was noted and a few of the cells buckled in and bent upon themselves; the inner edges of the cups showed in a few instances serrations and the margins of the cups were more refractile and apparent and the centers clearer. In 0.5% (approximately 1.003 X iso-osmotic) alcohol the irregularity of the cells was more marked. In this concentration numerous cells possessed very clear centers shaped like triangles and slits, while a few appeared small and round and no longer presented the cup effect.