These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed


  • Title: Erythrocyte calcium abnormalities and the clinical severity of sickling disorders.
    Author: Steinberg MH, Eaton JW, Berger E, Coleman MB, Oelshlegel FJ.
    Journal: Br J Haematol; 1978 Dec; 40(4):533-39. PubMed ID: 728370.
    Abstract:
    We studied erythrocyte calcium levels and uptake in a group of patients with sickle haemoglobinopathies of different clinical severity in an attempt to relate these measurements to the production of irreversibly sickled cells and disease severity. Erythrocyte calcium levels were measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy and calcium uptake by isotopic means. In sickle cell anaemia, erythrocyte calcium content was elevated and the uptake of isotopic calcium increased under both oxygenated and deoxygenated conditions. There was a direct correlation between the numbers of irreversibly sickled cells and calcium uptake and an inverse relationship between calcium uptake and red cell potassium level. The clinical course of disease was milder in patients with high fetal haemoglobin levels, but there was no relationship between clinical course and calcium levels, calcium flux or irreversibly sickled cells. Our observations suggest that calcium accumulation and irreversibly sickled cell formation are related processes. The absence of good correlation between various biochemical and clinical parameters emphasizes the complexity of factors which modify the clinical course of this disorder.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]