VARIATIONS IN THE PERMEABILITY OF THE RED BLOOD CELLS IN MAN, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE CONDITIONS OBTAINING IN PERNICIOUS ANEMIA

Abstract

The eryth-rocyte permeability to glucose presented slight individual variations in 12 normal subjects. In 9 patients with posthemorrhagic anemia and 20 patients with miscellaneous diseases somewhat more pronounced variations were found. 4 cases of untreated pernicious anemia gave distinctly raised permeability readings (up to 4 times the normal avg. value) and the same was found in 4 out of 6 cases receiving treatment. During specific treatment the permeability became normal in all 7 cases examined, in some instances within the first 1-3 days of treatment. The permeability to malonamid and thio-urea paralleled the glucose permeability.