Red-Cell 2,3-Diphosphoglycerate Levels in Subjects with Chronic Hypoxemia

Recently, Benesch et al.1 , 2 and Chanutin and Curnish3 demonstrated that the affinity of a hemoglobin solution for oxygen may be decreased by its interaction with organic phosphates. Both 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) combine reversibly with deoxyhemoglobin, shifting the oxygen dissociation curve to the right. The role of 2,3-DPG in regulating the oxygen dissociation curve may be quantitatively the more important since its concentration in erythrocytes is approximately four times that of ATP. Under in vitro conditions in which the level of deoxyhemoglobin is raised the level of 2,3-DPG also promptly increases.4 , 5 This finding suggested that the increase in . . .