Changes in morphofunctional parameters of erythrocytes and oxygen-binding capacity of hemoglobin under the influence of microorganisms of various types

When bacteria interact with red blood cells, the plasma membrane receives signals from the microorganism adhesins, and the functional work of the erythrocyte as a whole depends on the biomembrane phospholipid condition. However, the microorganism effect on the structural and functional properties of the red blood cell membrane, as well as on the hemoglobin oxygen-binding ability has not been studied enough. Given the foregoing, we sought to study these issues in our work. The study used the “bacteria–red blood cells” model, using archival microbial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Mycolicibacterium rutilum, and M. iranicum) and donor erythrocytes. The structural and functional properties of the red blood cell membrane phospholipids and the spectral characteristics of the hemoglobin molecule were studied using Raman spectroscopy. To study changes in red blood cell (RBC) morphology under the impact of microorganisms, laser interference microscopy was used. The results show that various types of microorganisms affected the conformational structure of the RBCs membrane phospholipid bonds, which contributed to changes in the morphological characteristics of cells, resulting in functional changes in both the red blood cell as a whole and the main RBC oxygen transport protein—hemoglobin.