Hemolytic properties of synthetic glycosides.

Cholesteryl alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside, tigogenyl alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside, tigogenyl beta-D-fucopyranoside, smilagenyl beta-D-fucopyranoside, cholesteryl beta-maltoside, tigogenyl beta-maltoside, and smilagenyl beta-maltoside were synthesized and characterized. The rhamnosides and fucosides, as well as some other steroid monoglycosides, proved to be extremely insoluble in water. The concentration giving 50% hemolysis, H50, was of the same order of magnitude for all synthetic glycosides. Ghost cells collected from blood hemolyzed by smilagenyl maltoside and tigogenyl maltoside had appreciable amounts of absorbed aglycones. All results are in accordance with previous investigations on the mechanism of saponin and sapogenin hemolysis.