This work intends to describe the physical properties of red blood cell (RBC) membranes in obese adults. The hypothesis driving this research is that obesity, in addition to increasing the amount of body fat, will also modify the lipid composition of membranes in cells other than adipocytes. Forty-nine control volunteers (16 male, 33 female, BMI 21.8 ± 5.6 and 21.5 ± 4.2 kg/m2, respectively) and 52 obese subjects (16 male and 36 female, BMI 38.2± 11.0 and 40.7 ± 8.7 kg/m2, respectively) were examined. The two physical techniques applied were atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the force spectroscopy mode, which allows the micromechanical measurement of penetration forces, and fluorescence anisotropy of trimethylammonium diphenylhexatriene (TMA-DPH), which provides information on lipid order at the membrane polar-nonpolar interface. These techniques, in combination with lipidomic studies, revealed a decreased rigidity in the interfacial region of the RBC membranes of obese as compared to control patients, related to parallel changes in lipid composition. Lipidomic data show an increase in the cholesterol/phospholipid mole ratio and a decrease in sphingomyelin contents in obese membranes. ω-3 fatty acids (e.g., docosahexaenoic acid) appear to be less prevalent in obese patient RBCs, and this is the case for both the global fatty acid distribution and for the individual major lipids in the membrane phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylserine (PS). Moreover, some ω-6 fatty acids (e.g., arachidonic acid) are increased in obese patient RBCs. The switch from ω-3 to ω-6 lipids in obese subjects could be a major factor explaining the higher interfacial fluidity in obese patient RBC membranes.
Keywords: atomic force microscopy; cell membrane physical properties; fluorescence polarization; lipidomics; membrane breakthrough force; membrane fluidity; obesity.