Morphology and microbiome profile of blood samples from healthy individuals with laboratory-induced Heinz bodies
Keywords:
blood microbiome,, Heinz bodies,, oxidative stress,, saltsAbstract
Heinz bodies are granular intracellular inclusions found in erythrocytes. The leading hypothesis suggests that they form under conditions of oxidative stress and structural damage of hemoglobin. Recent evidence indicates that, in addition to chemical factors, members of the blood microbiota may also participate in their formation. The aim of this pilot study was to track the dynamics of Heinz body formation in erythrocytes under induced oxidative stress and to analyze the associated microbial profile. High temperature and elevated concentrations of salts known to induce Heinz body formation were used as stress factors. Fresh blood samples from three healthy volunteers were incubated at 43 °C in the presence of menadione sodium bisulfite (vitamin K) and aminophenol. Morphological changes were monitored in real time using light microscopy, a BioFlux system, and scanning electron microscopy. Targeted 16S rDNA sequencing was performed to assess the microbial composition before and after incubation. Morphological analysis demonstrated the appearance of granular inclusions within the first minutes of treatment, followed by a marked increase in the percentage of erythrocytes containing Heinz bodies after 90–150 minutes. Microbiome analysis of DNA from untreated erythrocytes and isolated Heinz bodies showed predominant representation of the phyla Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. No loss of microbial diversity was observed as a result of treatment or DNA isolation procedures. In stress-exposed samples containing Heinz bodies, we detected up to a thirty-fold increase in the number of reads for certain bacterial genera relative to untreated erythrocyte controls. In lysed erythrocyte preparations, we identified cultivable microbial structures measuring 170–180 nm with morphology similar to that of Heinz bodies. Vitamin K and aminophenol acted as strong chemical stressors promoting Heinz body formation and likely exhibited specific biochemical interactions with the cellular structures of different microbial taxa. These findings suggest a possible link between oxidative-stress-induced granulation in erythrocytes and quantitative and qualitative changes in the blood microbiota, highlighting the need for further investigation into the potential role of microbial factors in Heinz body formation.
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Copyright (c) 2026 B. Tsafarova, Y. Hodzhev, A. Generalova, A. Alexandrova, T. Tyankov, S. Todinova, G. Yordanov, R. Kalfin, S. Panaiotov (Author)
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