Question

How does lipid solubility effect hemolysis of red blood cells? I know that lipid solubility of ethanol is greater than ethylene glycerol and glycerol. However, I don’t understand how that effects hemolysis, since it focuses on concentrations of solutes effect on the diffusion of water in and out of the cell?! Please help lol

Answer 1

Plasma membrane is made up of lipids and proteins.

if you have ever studied about glomerular filtration rate and the calculation of GFR ,you must be knowing that the diffusion across any boundary or diffusion across and limiting membrane depends on two things first of all the concentration gradient of the solute and second it also depends on the properties of the membrane, that how much permeable the membrane is (and that is called as the diffusion coefficient ) and that depends on the material of the membrane therefore the lipid solubility effects the diffusion coefficient as a result it effects that how much water will enter the RBC and hence haemolysis will occur.