Factors defining the rate of oxygen uptake by the red blood cell

Abstract

Using numerical methods, the initial rates of oxygen uptake by the red blood cell have been computed. The methods accommodate both a water layer and membrane which may act as diffusive impedance to gas influx. The differential solubilities of the gas in these two layers have also been incorporated in the methods. The presence of a 0.50–0.65 μm deoxygenated water layer has been calculated to simulate the experimental results by Roughton (1959). Experimental studies of CO and NO uptake by the red cell could also be simulated. Although a membrane-only model with given parameters can also account for the observed rates of oxygenation of the red cell (Weingardenet al., submitted for publication), the additional incorporation of differential solubilities of oxygen in the different layers of the RBC yields results that indicate a three layer model to be more plausible.

Using a thin layer-red cell oxygenation system, the rates of oxygenation were determined for red cells surrounded by a 4.2 μm deoxygenated water layer. The rates were found to compare favorably to the results of the theoretical model.