Hemolysis
![Hemolysis of blood samples. Red blood cells without (left and middle) and with (right) hemolysis. If as little as 0.5% of the red blood cells are hemolyzed, the released hemoglobin will cause the serum or plasma to appear pale red or cherry red in color.[4] Note that the hemolyzed sample is transparent, because there are no cells to scatter light.](/Images/godic/202501/17/Hemolysis1918.jpg")
![Hemolysis from streptococcus. Examples of the blood culture patterns created by (from left) alpha-, beta- and gamma-hemolytic streptococci.](/Images/godic/202501/17/Streptococcal_hemolysis1919.jpg")
Hemolysis or haemolysis (from the Greek αἷμα (aima, haema, hemo-) meaning "blood" and λύσις (lusis, lysis, -lysis) meaning a "loosing", "setting free" or "releasing"), is the rupturing of erythrocytes (red blood cells) and the release of their contents (cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma). Hemolysis may occur in vivo or in vitro (inside or outside the body).