EFFECT OF ANOXIC ANOXIA ON MYOGLOBIN CONCENTRATION IN STRIATED MUSCLE

Abstract

A study was made to determine whether or not myoglobin plays a part in the adaptation response of an organism to chronic anoxemia. Quantitative estimations of the myoglobin in specific muscles were made on a series ot albino rats exposed regularly but intermittently to a simulated altitude of 25,000 ft., for 12-312 days. The method of analysis employed is one which permits quantitative determinations of myoglobin to be made on extracts of unperfused muscle containing hemoglobin. The data obtained indicates no direct relation between changes in myoglobin concn. and adaptation to a condition of altitude hypoxia. Skeletal muscle, in which activity is not enhanced by anoxia, eventually showed a decreased myoglobin content following prolonged altitude exposure; whereas cardiac muscle, in which activity is enhanced by anoxia, apparently showed an increased myoglobin content. These changes tend to indicate that the myoglobin content of a muscle is determined by muscular activity rather than by anoxia, even in an anoxic environment.