CHARACTERIZATION OF ERYTHROCYTE SHAPES AND SIZES BY NMR DIFFUSION-DIFFRACTION OF WATER - CORRELATIONS WITH ELECTRON-MICROGRAPHS

The utility of H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) diffusion-diffract ion of water as a tool for characterising red cell shape was investiga ted, Experiments were conducted on various cell suspensions which cont ained different shapes/forms of erythrocytes prepared by manipulating the conditions of the suspension medium, such as osmolality, and alter ing metabolism to affect the adenosine triphosphate concentration, Abn ormal red cells from patients with hereditary stomatocytosis and megal oblastic anemia were also studied in order to assess the practical app lication of this ''new'' technique, The results clearly show that NMR diffusion-diffraction is sensitive to very small changes in mean cell dimensions and that a ''characteristic'' q-space plot/profile can be a scribed to each erythrocyte form. It was also found that the homogenei ty of the cell shape and/or size is an important factor that affects t he intensity of the diffusion-diffraction peaks, This study demonstrat es the potential of the NMR diffusion-diffraction technique as a diagn ostic tool in hematology. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.