The effect of urea on sickling.

British Journal of Haematology
A May, E R Huehns

Abstract

The effect of urea on the oxygen affinity of sickle cells and normal cells was studied up to a concentration of about 1.0 M. Besides the increase in oxygen affinity found in both normal and sickle cells there was a further increase found only in the sickle cells. This specific increase was caused by the direct inhibition of the polymerization of deoxygenated Hb-S by the urea and was used to measure the extent of this inhibition. Even at concentrations of 1.0 M the urea did not fully inhibit the polymerization. At the urea concentrations recommended for treatment of sickle cell crises and for the oral treatment of the disease there was only a very slight inhibition of polymerization. The small increase in oxygen affinity brought about by these concentrations of urea (equivalent to a log P50 change of 0.016) will cause some additional minimal inhibition of sickling at physiological partial pressures of oxygen. Oxygen dissociation measurements of Hb-A in dilute solution showed that 0.95 M urea had no effect on the interaction of 2,3-DPG and chloride with haemoglobin nor on the haem-haem interactions. This implies that the quaternary 'deoxy' form of the haemoglobin may still form and that the action of urea in inhibiting the polyme...Continue Reading

References

Jul 1, 1975·British Journal of Haematology·A May, E R Huehns
May 27, 1974·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association
Oct 19, 1972·The New England Journal of Medicine·A Cerami
Jul 13, 1972·The New England Journal of Medicine·G B SegelD G Nathan
May 1, 1972·British Journal of Haematology·A May, E R Huehns
Feb 1, 1972·Clinical Science·A May, E R Huehns
Jan 1, 1972·Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology·M Murayama
Jun 8, 1968·Nature·A J Bellingham, E R Huehns
Jan 23, 1967·Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications·R Benesch, R E Benesch
Feb 1, 1957·The Biochemical Journal·A C ALLISON

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Sep 1, 1976·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·J HofrichterW A Eaton
Jul 1, 1975·British Journal of Haematology·A May, E R Huehns
Mar 22, 2014·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Rowena Ball, John Brindley
Mar 20, 2010·American Journal of Physiology. Cell Physiology·Sergios GatidisFlorian Lang
May 8, 2004·American Journal of Physiology. Renal Physiology·Karl S LangChristophe Duranton

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anemia

Anemia develops when your blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells. Anemia of inflammation (AI, also called anemia of chronic disease) is a common, typically normocytic, normochromic anemia that is caused by an underlying inflammatory disease. Here is the latest research on anemia.

Blood And Marrow Transplantation

The use of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or blood and marrow transplantation (bmt) is on the increase worldwide. BMT is used to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Here is the latest research on bone and marrow transplantation.