The effects of deoxygenation of adult and fetal hemoglobin on the synthesis of red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and its in vivo consequences

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Abstract

Patients over 1 month of age with arterial oxygen pressures of less than 60 mm Hg were found to have elevated red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) levels and blood with a decreased affinity for oxygen. The increase in 2,3-DPG was proportional to the degree of hypoxemia. In patients under 1 month of age this relationship was not observed. Red cells from adults, but not newborns, showed rapid increases in 2,3-DPG when incubated under nitrogen. Adult, but not fetal, deoxyhemoglobin was shown to facilitate in vitro synthesis of 2,3-DPG by binding this organic phosphate and relieving the product inhibition of 2,3-DPG mutase.

Authors

Frank A. Oski, Arlan J. Gottlieb, William W. Miller, Maria Delivoria-Papadopoulos