Cell membrane response on D-glucose studied by dielectric spectroscopy. Erythrocyte and ghost suspensions

The kinetics of D-glucose influence on spherical human erythrocyte and ghost suspensions, which were prepared from fresh blood provided by healthy donors, was studied by time domain dielectric spectroscopy (TDDS) in a wide physiologic range of glucose concentrations. The dielectric response of cell membranes was found to demonstrate a nonmonotonic behavior in the vicinity of 12 mM concentration of D-glucose in both cell and ghost suspensions. In contrast to spherical cells, where the membrane effect after exposure to D-glucose was reduced after 15-30 min, no reaction was detected in the case of ghosts. The possible mechanisms of glucose transport through the membrane and metabolism are discussed in this paper.