With hospital funding going down, local hospitals are looking for any way to cut

Question

With hospital funding going down, local hospitals are looking for any way to cut costs while maintain quality of care. One large expense is the delivery oxygen gas to patients, which increases tissues oxygenation levels in patients with impaired breathing function. A company is testing an injectable drug that they claim can increase the amount of oxygen to the tissues by binding hemoglobin.

12. The solid line represents the binding affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen with NO drug treatment. Dotted curve shift to the right and dashed shift to the left. Which curve (dotted or dashed) represents the affinity of hemoglobin of oxygen after drug treatment? Explain in terms of binding affinity based on the curve shift of your answer.

13. How does the drug effect hemoglobin’s affinity for O2 and how does would this achieve the desired patient result? Explain.

Explanation / Answer

Solution:

The right dot curve represents hemoglobin oxygen binding with drug treatment. This is because the right shift in the curve represents reduced affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen which in turn leads to release of more oxygen to the tissues. The left curve exhibits increased oxygen affinity which would cause rather reduced oxygen delivery to the tissues.
The R state of hemoglobin has higher affinity for oxygen. So, the drug stabilize the T state.
The drug is stabilising the T state of hemoglobin which has the beta chains apart and a big central opening to ensure lower oxygen affinity.

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