Oxygen Affinity of Whole Blood In Vivo and under Standard Conditions in Subjects with Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Determinations of hemoglobin concentration, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, oxygen tension, pH, carbon dioxide, red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG), and carboxy-hemoglobin concentration were carried out on venous blood from 28 subjects with diabetes mellitus. The blood oxygen affinity in vivo, as observed in the plot of oxygen tension vs oxygen saturation, was identical to that observed in normal subjects. The red cell DPG concentration was higher by 1.0 mmol/l and 0.6 mmol/l in the diabetic men and women, respectively, than in the normal subjects. These data are interpreted in terms of the higher concentration of HbA_Ic in the blood of diabetic subjects and indicate that this abnormality is compensated for by an increase in red cell DPG to give a normal oxygen affinity of the blood in vivo.

Key Words:

• Blood oxygen affinity
• diabetes mellitus
• red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate