Survival at extreme altitude: protective effect of increased hemoglobin-oxygen affinity.
Decreased hemoglobin-oxygen affinity is thought to be of adaptive value to humans and nonindigenous animals at high altitude. To test this, hemoglobin-oxygen affinity was modified by carbamoylation of hemoglobin in rats. Exposure of control (low oxygen affinity) and experimental (high oxygen affinity) animals to a pressure equivalent to high altitude revealed that increased, rather than decreased, hemoglobin-oxygen affinity will permit survival at greatly reduced environmental oxygen pressures.
D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D001272:Atmosphere; D001273:Atmosphere Exposure Chambers; D002219:Carbamates; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D003485:Cyanates; D004163:Diphosphoglyceric Acids / Q000097:blood; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D006339:Heart Rate; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D051381:Rats; D013997:Time Factors
D002219:Carbamates; D003485:Cyanates; D004163:Diphosphoglyceric Acids; D006454:Hemoglobins; D010100:Oxygen