Haemolysis of normal and glutathione-deficient sheep erythrocytes by selenite and tellurite

Both selenite and tellurite caused lysis of normal sheep erythrocytes in vitro. GSH-deficient sheep erythrocytes were considerably more resistant to haemolysis than normal cells. This effect was independent of the biochemical lesion responsible for GSH-deficiency (amino acid transport lesion or γ-glutamyl cysteine synthetase deficiency). These and other observations directly implicate intracellular GSH in the lytic mechanism. Selenite and tellurite-induced haemolysis therefore provides a simple method for detecting GSH-deficient cells. The lytic effect of selenite may explain some of the symptoms associated with selenium poisoning.