Summary
The cause of species difference in the susceptibility of erythrocytes to L-sorbose, and the difference in the hemolytic effect of sorbose on high potassium-containing (hk) and low potassium-containing (lk) canine erythrocytes were examined. L-Sorbose was phosphorylated in canine erythrocytes, but not in human erythrocytes. Furthermore, sorbose-1-phosphate, a metabolite of L-sorbose, strongly inhibited the hexokinase of lk canine erythrocytes, but not that of hk canine erythrocytes. These results strongly indicated that inhibition of hexokinase by sorbose-1-phosphate in lk erythrocytes induced severe glycolytic limitation in these cells, resulting in hemolysis, and that hk erythrocytes are resistant to sorbose-induced hemolysis because these cells have a high hexokinase activity.
