Comparative study of the transition temperature of calf and adult cattle erythrocytes.

In our study we have compared the temperature dependence of osmotic fragility in calf and adult cattle erythrocytes. The temperature dependence of osmotic fragility has revealed inflections in calf red cells generally at 20 degrees C (293 K), in adult cattle red cells at about 30 degrees C (303 K). One possible explanation for the lower transition temperature of calf erythrocytes is that the microviscosity of the protein-lipid boundary might be considerably less in the membrane of the calf cell than in the adult cell.