Influence of capillary and tissue pO2 on carbon monoxide binding to myoglobin : a theoretical evaluation

In order to evaluate how much myoglobin is linked to CO at various HbCO concentrations and at different PO2, a three compartment model (arterial blood, venous capillary blood, and tissue myoglobin) has been considered. A steady-state condition has been assumed for O2 consumption with no metabolization for CO. The curves obtained by computer simulation of the proposed model indicate that HbCO levels found in smokers entail values of MbCO which could be high enough to reduce intracellular oxygen transport significantly: especially where the PO2 is physiologically low (as in subendocardium) and/or hypoxemic-ischemic conditions are present.