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Abstract
Background: The Occurrence of spur-cell anaemia in the course of cirrhosis is rare. Alterations of the lipid composition and fluidity of erythrocyte (RBC) ghosts may be present and participate in the phenomenon.
Methods: A 59-year-old male patient with alcoholic cirrhosis developed severe spur-cell haemolytic anaemia before death. We compared his RBC ghosts with those of 10 cirrhotic patients and used a group of 9 healthy subjects as controls.
Results: The cholesterol to protein ratio was higher in cirrhotic patients; besides, they had less unsaturated fatty acid. The ratio of phospholipid phosphorus to protein did not change; yet, the distribution of phosphorus among phospholipid classes was altered. No difference in 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene fluorescence anisotropy (membrane fluidity) was observed between the ghosts of cirrhotic patients and those of healthy people. However, the ghosts of the patient with spur-cell anaemia were more rigid than those of either group.
Conclusions: The values of most variables of cirrhotic patients' ghosts lay between those of healthy subjects and those of the one who developed spur-cell anaemia. It is concluded that some homeostatic mechanisms must control fluidity during cirrhosis; in some cases alterations are particularly great, and fluidity cannot be maintained.