PEDIATRICS Vol. 48 No. 6 December 1971, pp. 857-864
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THE REGULATION OF OXYGEN AFFINITY OF FETAL BLOOD

I. IN VITRO EXPERIMENTS AND RESULTS IN NORMAL INFANTS

Marcello M. Orzalesi M.D.1 and William W. Hay B.A.1

1 Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut

It has been previously shown that red cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (DPG) binds to reduced hemoglobin (Hb) decreasing its affinity for oxygen (O2 and that the in vitro effect of DPG on fetal Hb is less marked than on the adult Hb.

The present study on whole blood provides evidence that the in vivo effect of DPG on the O2 affinity of fetal Hb is approximately 40% of that of adult Hb. It also shows that the O2 affinity of fetal blood decreases during gestation and depends on the relative proportions of adult and fetal Hb and on the level of red cell DPG.

Submitted on May 8, 1971
Accepted on July 14, 1971