title: Representative oxygen dissociation curve and equation for the chicken.
abstract: Because of the considerable variability in the oxygen dissociation curves for chickens reported in the literature, the respiratory physiologist studying avian gas exchange is faced with the dilemma of which curve is representative for the chicken. In order to arrive at a representative curve, data from eight reported curves were compiled and adjusted to the same set of standard conditions of temperature (T), pH, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2): T = 42 C, pH = 7.5 PCO2 = 40 torr. The mean PO2 STD (mean +/- SD) versus percent saturation of hemoglobin curve was then determined. The mean data were fitted to an equation representing the oxygen dissociation curve so that for any selected partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) the percent saturation (%SAT) of oxyhemoglobin may be computed. The P50 values for the mean literature and equation curves, respectively, were 47.4 +/- 9.8 and 45.3 Torr. The mean curve with its standard deviations provides a chicken oxygen dissociation curve representative of the literature data to which experimental data may be compared. The equation for the curve enables rapid referral to the representative curve to compute the %SAT, given the PO2 adjusted to the standard conditions.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000502:physiology*; D008433:Mathematics; D010101:Oxygen Consumption