MOLECULAR EFFECTS OF ERYTHROPOIETIN ON THE LIPID COMPOSITION OF THE UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD ERYTHROCYTE MEMBRANES OF NEWBORNS AT CYTOMEGALOVIRUS INFECTION IN PREGNANCY

In order to identify the molecular effects of erythropoietin on the lipid composition and properties of the membrane of red blood cells of the umbilical cord, 35 newborn children born from cytomegalovirus seropositive women with exacerbation of infection in the third trimester of pregnancy (main group) were examined. The control group consisted of 30 newborns born from cytomegalovirus seronegative women. Plasma and red blood cells of the umbilical cord became the material for the study. In the membrane of red blood cells of the umbilical cord by spectrophotometry there were studied the products that react with thiobarbituric acid; membrane microviscosity was studied by lateral diffusion of hydrophobic fluorescent probe of pyrenes; lysophosphatidylcholine content by a thin-layer chromatography; the content of arachidonic, oleic and α-linolenic fatty acids by gas chromatography; ionized calcium content by analyzer of blood gases and electrolytes; erythropoietin in umbilical cord blood plasma by enzyme immunoassay. The number of erythrocytes was determined by an automatic hematological analyzer. The assessment of erythrocytes morphology and echinocytes counting was performed by light microscopy with further cytophotometrical data processing. In the umbilical cord blood of newborns born from cytomegalovirus seropositive women with exacerbation of infection in the third trimester of pregnancy, there was found out an increase in the level of erythropoietin by 20% (p<0.05), the number of erythrocytes by 21% (p<0.01), of products reacting with thiobarbituric acid by 60% (p<0.001), of lysophosphatidylcholine by 42% (p<0.001), of arachidonic acid by 31% (p<0.001)<0.001), of ionized calcium by 14% (p<0.05), of the amount of echinocytes by 91% (p<0.001); with a decrease in the content of oleic and α-linolenic fatty acids by 40% (p<0.001), there was an increase in the ratio of fluorescence of excimers and monomers (Fe/Fm) by 30% (p<0.001), the number of red blood cells by 21% (p<0.01). The results obtained suggested in the newborns from seropositive women to cytomegalovirus with exacerbation of the infection in the third trimester of pregnancy the development of ineffective erythropoiesis, enhancing oxidative damage of red blood cells, leading to echinocytosis and eryptosis