The Effect of Host and Cell Age on the Rat Erythrocyte: Biochemical Aspects

Abstract

The “aging” of the erythrocyte in the circulation has been subject to very intensive investigations [see Clark and Shohet (1985) for an extensive review]. In the course of these investigations many cellular and biochemical parameters were explored in an attempt to correlate decline in metabolic functions and structural changes and the increased propensity for sequestration of the erythrocyte by spleen and liver macrophages (Clark and Shohet 1985). For the gerontologist the phenomenon of the limited life span of the erythrocyte in the circulation cannot serve as an adequate model for aging. This is because in all other tissues cells age without attaining a suicidal degree of differentiation which entails an almost complete loss of the capacity to replace altered cellular components. In fact, other cell types age despite their capacity to either replace or restore faulty components. Our interest in erythrocytes stems from the fact that they can be readily and repeatedly obtained for sampling throughout the life span of the organism without inflicting much damage on the donor. This cannot be done with other tissues without imposing injuries on the sampled tissue or sacrificing the whole animal. Erythrocytes can thus serve as a good exploratory source for markers of biologic aging of the organism rather than the chronologic aspect of aging. This is necessary because functional and chronologic aging are quite divergent during a substantial proportion of the life span.