Investigation of erythrocyte membrane damage under the action of γ radiation in a wide dose range using electroporation

Human erythrocyte membrane damage under the impact of γ radiation on blood suspension is studied in a wide dose range (2–1000 Gy, irradiation dose rate 2.75 Gy/min). It is shown that the irradiation in the absorbed dose range from 600 Gy and higher results in hemolysis of erythrocytes immediately (or within several hours) after irradiation, and the value of the hemolysis rate constant increases with increasing absorbed dose. For finding hidden membrane damage occurring several hours after irradiation with smaller doses, the suspension was affected by a high voltage pulsed electric field (PEF). It is shown that, for an absorbed dose range from 2 to ～350 Gy, no noticeable increase in the erythrocyte hemolysis rate was observed after the action of PEF on the suspension, as compared to the nonirradiated suspension. This testifies that, in this dose range, the degree of membrane damage is small and practically independent of absorbed dose value. For doses from 400 to ～550 Gy, a noticeable increase in the hemolysis rate after the action of PEF growing with increasing absorbed dose was observed.