RESUMO
We constructed and studied a mathematical model that describes the control of cell volume, ion balance, energy and adenylate metabolism in human erythrocytes. According to the model, adenylate metabolism can provide an effective stabilization of the cell volume over relatively large changes of cell parameters. For example, the steady-state value of cell volume remains almost unchanged when the cell membrane permeability increases by 15-fold. The cell volume also changes only slightly over large changes in the parameters of energy metabolism. The relaxation time for the cell volume changes is about 100 hr over changes in these parameters. In other words, the volume stabilization operates most effectively against long-term slow perturbations.