Erythrocyte consumption of nitric oxide in presence and absence of plasma-based hemoglobin.
Experimental measurements have suggested a consumption rate of nitric oxide (NO) by red blood cells (RBCs) that is orders of magnitude smaller than that of an equivalent concentration of free hemoglobin in solution. This difference has been attributed to external diffusion limitations in the transport of NO from the plasma to the surface of the RBC or to resistance in the transport through the erythrocytic membrane. A detailed mathematical model is developed to quantify the resistance to NO transport around a single RBC and to predict the consumption rate in the presence and absence of extracellular hemoglobin. We provide a description for the NO consumption rate as a function of hematocrit, RBC radius, membrane permeability, and extracellular hemoglobin concentration. We predict a first-order rate constant for NO consumption in blood between 7.5 x 10(2) and 6.5 x 10(3) s(-1) at a hematocrit of 45% for membrane permeability values between 0.1 and 40 cm/s. Our results suggest that the difference in NO uptake by RBCs and free hemoglobin is smaller than previously reported and it is hematocrit dependent.
Tsoukias
Nikolaos M
NM
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Computational Medicine and Biology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.
Popel
Aleksander S
AS
D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D001802:Blood Substitutes / Q000378:metabolism; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D048429:Cell Size; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000097:blood*; D051381:Rats; D012996:Solutions
D001802:Blood Substitutes; D006454:Hemoglobins; D012996:Solutions; D009569:Nitric Oxide