EFFECT OF AGE ON THE ENZYME ACTIVITY IN ERYTHROCYTES

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Abstract
The activities of certain enzymes were studied in mature human erythrocytes of relatively young and old mean cell ages. The samples of young and old red blood cells were separated by methods based on the fact that young, compared to old, erythrocytes are less osmotically fragile and are less dense. The activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconic dehydrogenase, and phosphohexose isomerase decrease more markedly with the aging of red blood cells in vivo than do those of lactic acid dehydrogenase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase. It is suggested that the decline in activity of critical enzymes is a determinant of the life-span erythrocytes.