Hemoglobin Research Paper
Oxygen is a vital element for most of the organisms on earth. It was also thought to be the necessity for complex life until the anaerobic animals were discovered [1]. Although it is not the main requirement for all of the organisms in Kingdom Animalia, it carries out many important tasks in human bodies like the production of energy and oxidation-reduction cycle. Every day our bodies produce ATP as much as our body weight and even a slight drop in that production results in tiredness and moreover, it may result in death. Also when oxygen is not sufficiently available, detoxification process cannot be properly carried out and result in under-oxygenated cells which cause different types of diseases [2]. Without oxygen, humans cannot last more
…show more content…
Its main function in an adult body is to associate oxygen in lungs, where the level of oxygen concentration is very high and disassociate oxygen mostly in tissues where the oxygen concentration levels are lower compared to other parts. Although this process mostly works perfectly, it brings a question with it. During pregnancy, a fetus has to take its oxygen from its mother. Afore-mentioned, oxygen is a requirement for most of the tasks in human body and a fetus grows so fast in the uterus, needing excessive amount of energy for cell growth and production, turning oxygen into the main source for these tasks. However, the oxygen saturation in umbilical vein is not high, so even though adult hemoglobin, Hb A, can easily release its oxygen due to the low saturation in the vein, normally at that level of oxygen, hemoglobin cannot bind oxygen to itself. In the ordinary course of things, fetus would not be able to bind the required oxygen for its circulation from the maternal circulation, but to overcome this problem fetus produces another variant of hemoglobin called Fetal hemoglobin, Hb F. This type of hemoglobin has a higher affinity compared to adult hemoglobin, that can achieve binding oxygen in low saturated areas and extract more oxygen from the maternal circulation for the fetus itself [5]. The Higher binding affinity of Hb F is explained by its hemoglobin structure
Its main function in an adult body is to associate oxygen in lungs, where the level of oxygen concentration is very high and disassociate oxygen mostly in tissues where the oxygen concentration levels are lower compared to other parts. Although this process mostly works perfectly, it brings a question with it. During pregnancy, a fetus has to take its oxygen from its mother. Afore-mentioned, oxygen is a requirement for most of the tasks in human body and a fetus grows so fast in the uterus, needing excessive amount of energy for cell growth and production, turning oxygen into the main source for these tasks. However, the oxygen saturation in umbilical vein is not high, so even though adult hemoglobin, Hb A, can easily release its oxygen due to the low saturation in the vein, normally at that level of oxygen, hemoglobin cannot bind oxygen to itself. In the ordinary course of things, fetus would not be able to bind the required oxygen for its circulation from the maternal circulation, but to overcome this problem fetus produces another variant of hemoglobin called Fetal hemoglobin, Hb F. This type of hemoglobin has a higher affinity compared to adult hemoglobin, that can achieve binding oxygen in low saturated areas and extract more oxygen from the maternal circulation for the fetus itself [5]. The Higher binding affinity of Hb F is explained by its hemoglobin structure