Conductometric properties of human erythrocyte membranes: Dependence on haematocrit and alkali metal ions of the suspending medium

The electrical properties of the cytoplasmatic membrane of human erythrocyte cells have been evaluated by means of dielectric spectroscopy measurements in the radiowave frequency range, using the so-called ''suspension method''. Measurements have been carried out at different volume fractions of the corpuscular phase (the cell haematocrit) in order to investigate the influence of the cell-cell interactions on the electrical parameters (the membrane permittivity epsilon and the membrane conductivity sigma) of the cell membrane and a set of new values are proposed. Moreover, the influence of different alkali metal ions (Na+, K+, Cs+, Li+) on the ion permeation properties of the membrane are investigated and the structural alterations in the membrane organized briefly discussed.