Introduction
Aerobic Metabolism
Highly energized electrons liberated in the mitochondrial tri-carboxylic cycle are transported to the electron transport chain, and finally captured by oxygen. In this process known as oxidative phosphorylation, ADP is transformed into ATP and ground molecular di-oxygen is reduced by four electrons, and combining with protons intruded through the ATP synthase pump forms water. Remarkably, aerobic metabolism (i.e., with the concourse of oxygen) is 20 times more efficient than anaerobic metabolism thus providing sufficient energy for cell growth, development, and reproduction (e.g., 1 molecule of glucose forms 34 molecules of ATP through the aerobic pathway and 4 through the anaerobic). Of note is that specific cells such as neurons are unable to accumulate energy and are only able to survive for few minutes under hypoxic conditions rendering oxygen indispensable for central nervous system survival.
Each oxygen molecule has two unpaired electrons in its...
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Vento, M. (2012). Oxygen Therapy. In: Elzouki, A.Y., Harfi, H.A., Nazer, H.M., Stapleton, F.B., Oh, W., Whitley, R.J. (eds) Textbook of Clinical Pediatrics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02202-9_16
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