Affiliations: Department of Biophysics, Beijing Medical University, Beijing 100083, China | Hemorheology Center, Department of Medical Physics, Beijing Medical University, Beijing 100083, China | Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
Note: [] Correspondence to: Professor Z. Wen, Hemorheology Center, Department of Medical Physics, Beijing Medical University, Beijing 100083, P.R. China. Tel.: +86 10 62092419; Fax: +86 10 62015582; E‐mail: rheol@mail.bjmu.edu.cn.
Abstract: To evaluate the effect of morphine on red blood cells, in vivo and in vitro rat models of morphine dependence were established. Rheological properties of rat red cells were measured by ektacytometry; the biophysical changes in the membrane of rat red cells were measured by the Fourier‐Transformed Infrared technique (FT‐IR) and the fluorescence depolarization method. The results show that the membrane fluidity of red cells was greatly reduced by morphine and the secondary structure of membrane proteins was changed. This suggests that morphine affects the rat red cell membrane directly, rather than through opioids‐receptors.
Keywords: Morphine, hemorheology, ektacytometry, red blood cell, membrane fluidity, deformability, orientation index (DI)[TeX:] _{\mathrm{or}}, small deformation index (DI)[TeX:] _{\mathrm{d}}, membrane secondary structure
