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The in vivo Oxyhaemoglobin Dissociation Curve at Sea Level and High Altitude

Some animals have adapted to hypoxia by increasing their haemoglobin affinity for oxygen, but in vitro studies have not shown any change of haemoglobin affinity for oxygen in human high altitude natives or lowlanders acutely acclimatized to high altitude. We conducted the first in vivo study of the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve by progressively reducing arterial PO2 while maintaining normocapnia in lowlanders at sea level, lowlanders sojourning at 3600m for two weeks and native Andeans at the same altitude. We found that the in vivo PO2 at which haemoglobin is half-saturated (P50) is higher in lowlanders at sea level (32 mmHg) than that measured in vitro (27 mmHg) and that lowlanders and highlanders do significantly increase the in vivo affinity of their haemoglobin for oxygen with exposure to high altitude. These results indicate the value of an in vivo approach for studying the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/18154
Date16 December 2009
CreatorsBalaban, Dahlia
ContributorsFisher, Joseph A.
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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