Haemolysis by ultraviolet B of red blood cells from different animal species.

ABSTRACT

Photohaemolysis of erythrocytes was studied under ultraviolet B (UVB) light, which emitted radiation predominantly in the 290-320 nm region. Maximum haemolysis was obtained with rat red blood cells (RBCs), followed by human, fish, sheep, pigeon, lizard and frog RBCs. The rate of UVB-induced haemolysis was almost identical to that produced by UVC (200-290 nm), both causing extensive damage to RBCs. On the other hand, natural sunlight or UVA (320-400 nm) caused very little damage to RBCs. The results indicated that exposure to UVB is detrimental to RBCs and photomodification of RBCs is induced even with small increments in UVB level due to stratospheric ozone depletion.