The kinetics of hœmoglobin IV- General methods and theoretical basis for the reactions with carbon monoxide

Abstract

Some years ago, Hartridge and Roughton published four papers (1923-1927) upon the kinetics of the rapid reactions between oxygen and hæmoglobin. Following on this work an investigation has been made of the corresponding reactions between carbon monoxide and hæmoglobin, and also of the reactions in which carbon monoxide and oxygen both compete for union with hæmoglobin. According to the classical paper of Douglas, Haldane and Haldane (1912) the hæmoglobin-carbon monoxide reactions should only differ from the hæmoglobin-oxygen reactions in the numerical value of the mass action constants. It was therefore expected that the kinetic study of these sister reactions would contribute towards a fuller understanding of these sister reactions would contribute towards a fuller understanding of the reactions between oxygen and hæmoglobin. Furthermore, a knowledge of rates of the carbon monoxide reactions is of service, not only in working out the factors involved in the passage of O 2 into the red blood corpuscle (Roughton, 1932), but also in interpreting the measurements of the carbon monoxide as a "physiological reagent," e. g. , determination of blood volume and distribution, indirect measurement of O 2 pressure in arterial blood, cool gas poisoning, etc. Lastly, the similarity between the kinetics of the reactions of O 2 and CO with hæmoglobin and the kinetics of numerous enzyme processes, as set forth especially by J. B. S. Haldane in his recent book (1930), makes this problem well worth working out from the viewpoint of enzyme chemistry.