[CITATION][C] Heterogeneities and profiles of oxygen pressure in brain and kidney as examples of the pO2 distribution in the living tissue

DW Lübbers, H Baumgärtl - Kidney international, 1997 - Elsevier
DW Lübbers, H Baumgärtl
Kidney international, 1997Elsevier
The warm blooded animal produces its energy by the oxygen consumption of the
mitochondria. The mitochondrium contains the so-called respiratory chain which uses up
oxygen and produces ATP. The enzyme that reacts with oxygen is the cytochrome oxydase.
The mitochondria are situated within the cells, mostly in close contact to the sites where
energy is consumed. Therefore, to maintain a normal function oxygen must be transported
towards the cells of an organ. There is clear experimental evidence that oxygen is …
The warm blooded animal produces its energy by the oxygen consumption of the mitochondria. The mitochondrium contains the so-called respiratory chain which uses up oxygen and produces ATP. The enzyme that reacts with oxygen is the cytochrome oxydase. The mitochondria are situated within the cells, mostly in close contact to the sites where energy is consumed. Therefore, to maintain a normal function oxygen must be transported towards the cells of an organ. There is clear experimental evidence that oxygen is transported within the tissue by diffusion [1], which occurs when oxygen pressure differences exist between the blood in the capillary that delivers the oxygen and the mitochondrium within the cell that consumes the oxygen. Cytochrome oxydase is very well suited to create the necessary P 2 gradients since its is in the range of only ca. I torr, and it is able to use up almost the total available oxygen without hypoxia [2, 3]. Therefore, in a respiring normoxic tissue local P 2 may vary between values close to the arterial P 2 and values of almost zero P 2
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