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Modified Model for the Mechanism of Freezing Injury in Erythrocytes

Abstract

The salt concentration theory of freezing injury has been a dominant one since 1953. Recent experiments involving haemolysis of human erythrocytes do not support this theory, however. Damage seems to be caused by an osmotic pressure gradient, and does not result from any specific action of electrolytes, but from the excessive concentration of any non-penetrating extracellular solute.

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MERYMAN, H. Modified Model for the Mechanism of Freezing Injury in Erythrocytes. Nature 218, 333–336 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/218333a0

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