Baekgrouund & purpose: Diagnosis of microcytic hgpochromia is rutinely done using automatied equipment cell counter which is expensive and requaires expert. Personal OFT can be used for this globular defect. The aim of this study is to determine the best NaCL con centration in OFT, the experiments were done at fajer lab in 2001. Material & methods: 696 Random patients were examined simultaneouly for RBV indices by cell counter &method of onetube OFT. In this TEST .one drop (0.05 m1) of whole blood with 5 m1 of NaCl % 0.4 were mixed for 10 minutes, and after centrifuging. Supernatal for hemolysis. Result: 382 patients with mcv> 80 had hemolysis. 228 patients with 74< mev <79 had hemolysis. 75 individuals with mcv<75 have no hemolysis and 5 with mcv>80 and 6 with 74<mwv<79 had no hemolysis. Conclusion: one tube OFT is very Sensetive for sereening of microcytic hypochromia but it is not practical for differential diagnosis of iron deficieney anenaia from minor thlassemia.    

Thalassemia disorder is an important congenital red blood cell disorder. For laboratory screening, FRAGILITY is a useful TEST. The reduction of FRAGILITY TEST of red blood cell in thalassemia was noted, however, there is no report focusing on the physical force change occurring in this TEST. An idea focusing on the OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of red blood cell in thalassemia is hereby proposed. Reduction of force at cell surface can be observed explaining the observation on resistance to FRAGILITY TEST of red blood cell in thalassemia.

Background and aim: Thalassemia is the most common single gene disorder which is not completely cured. It is needed to find a reliable and cost-effective prevention method for screening the disease. For the next step, it is needed to give proper education, genetic consulting and prenatal diagnosis for the patients and finally selective termination of affected fetuses. The aim of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of the Naked Eye Single Tube Red Cell OSMOTIC FRAGILITY TEST (NESTROFT) as a screening TEST for beta-thalassemia trait.Methods: In this descriptive –analytical study, NESTROFT was applied to a total of 158 subjects who were divided into three groups. Group I was comprised of 51 individuals belonging to parents whom at least one of the children was suffering from b-thalassemia major, group II was consisted of 51 normal individuals and finally group III was comprised of 56 individuals with iron deficiency.Results: The findings of this study showed that sensitivity of the TEST was as high as 100 percent and specificity was 86.9 percent. The predictive value of the positive TEST was 78.5 percent and the negative TEST was as high as 100 percent. False positive results were obtained in 14 cases with iron deficiency.Conclusion: NESTROFT emerged as a highly sensitive, inexpensive and easy to perform TEST for exclusion of beta-thalassemia trait. It is therefore a suitable TEST for large-scale use in a developing country such as Iran, which has got limited financial and technical resources.

Introduction: Hyperthyroidism is associated with anemia. Since thyroid hormones, by acting on Na+/K+-ATPase activity and numbers, and also on the lipid composition of the membrane can alter the FRAGILITY of red cells, in this study, use compared the OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of red cells in hyperthyroid rats to that of controls.Materials and Methods: Forty eight male Wistar rats (body weight, 221±4g) were divided in 4 groups. Group I consumed L-thyroxine (12mg/L in drinking water) for 30 days, group II was the control for group I, group III consumed L-thyroxine for 60 days and group IV was the control group for the group III. At the end of the intervention period, hormonal and biochemical measurements were done in blood samples. To assess the OSMOTIC FRAGILITY, red blood cells (RBC) were incubated at 37oC for 30 min in different concentrations of NaCl and the extent of hemolysis was measured by colorimetry of the supernatant. Hemolysis percent was expressed in terms of percent hemolusis in presence of distilled water (100% hemolysis).Results: In this study although hemoglobin, haematocrit, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume in group III were significantly (P<0.05) higher compared to group IV, OSMOTIC FRAGILITY did not show any significant difference.Conclusion: The results indicate that hyperthyroidism in rat can not anemia and OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of RBCs in hyperthyroid animals do not differ from control groups.

Introduction: Many hypo and hyperthyroid patients are anemic. Changes in concentration of thyroid hormones can affect Na+- K+ ATPase number and activity and also phospholipids composition of the cell membranes leading to changes in the surface to volume ratio and strength of membrane. In this study, the OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of the red blood cells from non-treated hypo and hyperthyroid patients diagnosed on the basis of clinical examinations and paraclinical data were compared to that of control subjects. Materials and Methods: Written consent was obtained from all subjects. After washing three times with normal saline, red blood cells were placed in varying sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations (0-0.9gr%), following which, FRAGILITY was assessed with routine colorimetry methods. To do this, after the incubation period, tubes were centrifuged and the optical densities of the tubes were measured. Hemolysis percent in tubes was calculated on the basis of 100% hemolysis in the tubes containing 0 gr% of NaCl.Results: The results indicate that the OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of the cells from hyperthyroid patients in 0. 45gr% NaCl (74.6%±30.2) was significantly (p<0.01) lower than control subjects (93.8%±9.1). OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of red blood cells in 0.5 g percent concentration of sodium chloride in hyperthyroid patients (27.8%±26.0) was significantly less (p<0.001) compared to the controls (63.5%±27.5). It appears that this change cannot be explained by changes observed in red blood cell indices (micrococytosis hypochromia).According to the results of this study one can conclude that anemia reported in hypo- or hyperthyroid patients is not due to high OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of the red blood cells and other causes need to be investigated.

Introduction: Zinc deficiency may aggravate the effect of oxidative stress on RBC (Red Blood Cell) of chronic uremia. In this study, there is an attempt to show the relationship between the plasma zinc level and RBC OSMOTIC FRAGILITY in hemodialysis patients.Patients and Methods: Thirty five patients with low level of serum zinc (serum zinc level<70) participated in the trial. RBC OSMOTIC FRAGILITY, Hb (hemoglobin) and BUN (blood urea nitrogen) were checked. The patients received zinc supplement (zinc sulfate) (250 mg/day). Plasma level of zinc, Hb, BUN and OSMOTIC FRAGILITY rechecked after 6 weeks.Results: The mean serum zinc concentration among the participants increased and it was statistically significant (p<0.05). Erythrocytes at day 0 (59± 3.5) were significantly (P<0.05) more fragile in hypotonie saline than those at day 43(38±2.9), (at NaCl 40%). No significant changes were noted in the level of HbDiscussion: In this trial, oral zinc supplementation caused a significant rises in the plasma zinc level after 6 weeks. Although Hb concentration was not changed during the trial the level of OSMOTIC FRAGILITY in red cells reduced significantly.

Background: Thalassemia is a major health problem in Iran. The prevalence of thalassemia minor is high and screening program for detecting b -thalassemia trait has been established in southern parts of Iran since 1992. Objectives: To determine the efficacy of naked-eye single-tube red cell OSMOTIC FRAGILITY TEST (OFT) as a screening TEST for b -thalassemia trait. Methods: Three different concentrations (0.36%, 0.37% and 0.38%) of buffered saline solutions were used. OFT were applied to three groups of subjects: 50 normal individuals, 50 subjects with genetically proven b -thalassemia trait, and 15 patients with proved iron-deficiency anemia. Results: The results demonstrated that 0.37% saline was the best solution for OFT. It could detect 98% of heterozygous b -thalassemia patients compared to 96% and 84% detection rate obtained with respective 0.36% and 0.38% saline. Specificity of OFT with 0.37% saline was 96% whereas that of 0.36% and 0.38% saline were 84% and 94%, respectively. The OFT with 0.37% saline was also positive in 5 (33.3%) patients with iron-deficiency anemia. Conclusion: OFT done with 0.37% buffered saline solution provides more accurate results. Since the TEST is inexpensive and practical it might be considered as the single screening TEST to be used in areas with limited laboratory facilities and economic resources.

Background: Although hyperthyroidism is associated with anemia in men, the exact mechanism is not very well known. In the hyperthyroid state, the activity of this pump in red blood cells is decreased, so changes in the maintenance of the cell volume and the fluidity of the membrane of RBCs occur and changes in both the OSMOTIC resistance, as well as changes in the blood profile in the hyperthyroid state are expected.Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the possible impact of hyperthyroidism on the hematological parameters and OSMOTIC FRAGILITYof the red blood cells (RBC) in male rats.Materials and Methods: Forty-eight male wistar rats (body weight, 221 ± 4g) were divided into 4 groups (10-13 each). Levo-thyroxine treated groups (I and III given 12mg/L levothyroxine in drinking water for 30 and 60 days respectively), while the control groups (groups II and IV) received only tap water. Blood samples were collected to measure hormone levels and OSMOTIC FRAGILITY. The OSMOTIC FRAGILITY was TESTed by incubation of RBCs at 37oC for 30 min in different concentrations of NaCl (0 – 0.9 g/100 ml). The extent of hemolysis was measured by colorimetry of the supernatant. Percent hemolysis was calculated on the basis of the 100% hemolysis in the first tube (zero NaCl).Results: Results of the study show that although hemoglobin (16.4 ± 0.3g/dL), haematocrit (52.2 ± 1.4%), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (18.2 ± 0.3pg) and mean corpuscular volume (57.4 ± 0.8fL) in group III differed significantly (P<0.05) compared to the control group (15 ± 0.4, 46.7 ± 1.2, 17.2 ± 0.3, 53.6 ± 0.5 respectively), the OSMOTIC FRAGILITY showed no significant difference.Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that not only does experimentally induced hyperthyroidism not induce anemia in rats, but it apparently enhances the erythropoiesis without alteration of the OSMOTIC FRAGILITY of the RBC. Exploring the mechanism may further help to explain the altered OSMOTIC FRAGILITY observed in humans.