Carbonyl Stress in Red Blood Cells and Hemoglobin

The paper overviews the peculiarities of carbonyl stress in nucleus-free mammal red blood cells (RBCs). Some functional features of RBCs make them exceptionally susceptible to reactive carbonyl compounds (RCC) from both blood plasma and the intracellular environment. In the first case, these compounds arise from the increased concentrations of glucose or ketone bodies in blood plasma, and in the second-from a misbalance in the glycolysis regulation. RBCs are normally exposed to RCC-methylglyoxal (MG), triglycerides-in blood plasma of diabetes patients. MG modifies lipoproteins and membrane proteins of RBCs and endothelial cells both on its own and with reactive oxygen species (ROS). Together, these phenomena may lead to arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, hemolytic anemia, vascular occlusion, local ischemia, and hypercoagulation phenotype formation. ROS, reactive nitrogen species (RNS), and RCC might also damage hemoglobin (Hb), the most common protein in the RBC cytoplasm. It was Hb with which non-enzymatic glycation was first shown in living systems under physiological conditions. Glycated HbA1c is used as a very reliable and useful diagnostic marker. Studying the impacts of MG, ROS, and RNS on the physiological state of RBCs and Hb is of undisputed importance for basic and applied science.

Morphofunctional condition of the pancreatic insular apparatus in old rats with alloxan-induced diabetes and its correction with lipoic acid

The concentration of glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin in the blood of animals increases as a result of physiological aging. This is due to damage to the pancreatic insular apparatus and a decrease in the number and functioning of active β-cells. The development of alloxan-induced diabetes in old rats is characterized by a decrease in the number of islets of Langerhans, an enlargement of the preserved islets, and a sharp decrease in the number of active endocrine cells. The injection of lipoic acid partially corrected the morphofunctional condition of the islets of Langerhans and the biochemical values of the animals’ peripheral blood.