Observations of Phagocytized Red Cells Containing Heinz Bodies: A Light and Electron Microscopic Study

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Abstract
Heinz bodies were produced in red cells of rats fed diets containing phenacetin and p-chloracetanilide, the contaminant found in phenacetin. These Heinz body-containing erythrocytes were removed from the circulation predominantly by the spleen and in splenectomized rats, the Kupffer cells were the major site of red cell sequestration. After the Heinz body-containing red cell is engulfed in the Kupffer cell, it is hemolyzed within single-membrane-bound structures (lysosome, phagocytic vacuole). The apparently unaltered hemoglobin is less resistant to digestion than is the red cell plasma membrane, and the Heinz body remains visible after the red cell membrane had disappeared. The only indication that phagocytosis and destruction of red cells had occurred was the presence of single-membrane-bound structures containing hemosiderin at times associated with myelin figures.