POSSIBLE SELECTIVE ELIMINATION OF RED-BLOOD-CELLS UNDER THE INFLUENCEOF COLLOIDAL SILICA

The physical interaction between the red blood cells and colloidal sil ica leads to hemolysis. We propose that the nature of the red-cell eli mination as the result of this interaction is not random. As the negat ively charged silica particles at the physiological conditions electro statically react with the positive sites of the outer side of the cell membrane it seems reasonable to suppose that the cells with a low den sity of negative charges on the membrane surface area are more probabl e to be lysed in the first place.