THE FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT OF AUTOTRANSPLANTED SPLENIC TISSUE BY ITS CAPACITY TO REMOVE OXIDATIVELY MODIFIED ERYTHROCYTES

Free radicals and reactive oxygen species have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of hematologic diseases and erythrocyte agin g. Aged erythrocytes are removed from the circulation primarily by the spleen. In this study, we aimed to determine the functional effective ness of autotransplanted splenic tissue by its capacity to remove oxid atively modified erythrocytes from the circulation. Our experimental m odel in rats includes splenectomy with autotransplantation of 80% of t he excised splenic tissue into the omental pouch. In this model, free radical damage was estimated by different parameters of lipid peroxida tion such as carbonyl content and thiobarbituric acid reactive substan ces (TEARS), together with Heinz body formation. Our results have show n that splenic autotransplantation was effective in removing oxidative ly modified, aged erythrocytes from the circulation. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.