Comparative studies of the respiratory functions of mammalian blood. I. Gorilla, chimpanzee and orangutan

Blood samples from a chimpanzee, two gorillas and an orangutan were used for the construction of oxygen dissociation curves at pH 7.4 and 37 °C. The morphology of the erythrocytes was also studied. Hemoglobin from each species was subjected to starch block electrophoresis. The rate of hemoglobin oxidation by potassium ferricyanide was determined as was the amount of alkaliresistant hemoglobin. The glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in the erythrocytes was measured. With regard to all these parameters the blood of these members of the family Pongidae was essentially similar to that of the human adult except that the hemoglobin of each of these animals showed a slow rate of methemoglobin formation when exposed to potassium ferricyanide. The orangutan has large red blood cells and hemoglobin which travels slowly when subjected to starch block electrophoresis.