Brief Report: A Note on Hypertonic Saline Hemolysis of Red Cells

Fine dendritic crystals loaded at their ends with hemoglobin were found to be growing at the evaporating edges of an open hanging-drop preparation of blood diluted with normal saline. In another area dendritic crystals were growing direct from red cells. This phenomenon was found to be reproducible, as also the growth of larger crystals made with stronger NaCl solutions. These structures were identified as atypical NaCl crystals. Large as well as fine dendritic crystals were found still to form after removal of the red cell membranes and stroma and after the removal of plasma together with the remnants of hemolyzed red cells. It was concluded that hemoglobin was the sole agent responsible for modifying the form of the NaCl crystals. It was further apparent that NaCl has a strong affinity even for intracellular hemoglobin, and that hypertonic saline hemolysis of red cells can take place without any shrivelling of the cell membrane, occurring at the site of "membrane defects" located on the cell surface.