Effect of blood in the gut on measurements of endogenous carbon monoxide
production
RP Brouillard, ME Conrad and TA Bensinger
Department of Hematology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Walter
Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C. 20012.
Changes induced in measurements of endogenous carbon monoxide (CO)
production by blood in the lumen of the gut were studied in five normal
volunteers. The study was undertaken because exogenous heme is absorbed by
intestinal mucosal cells where the porphyrin ring is split with the release
of CO that could contribute to blood CO levels and lead to a fallacious
diagnosis of hemolytic disease. Volunteers who consumed 200 ml of their own
blood doubled their endogenous production of CO (0.69 versus 0.34
mumoles/kg/hr). This suggested that at least 3% of the ingested heme was
degraded and recovered as CO within 2 1/2 hr. Measurements of serum
bilirubin also showed a significant increase after ingestion of blood.
These data indicate that blood in the gastrointestinal tract can interfere
with quantification of heme and bilirubin turnover from measurements of
either endogenous CO production or bilirubin and suggest that this might
occur with the ingestion of meat.
Volume 45,
Issue 1,
pp. 67-69,
01/01/1975
Copyright © 1975 by The American Society of Hematology
