In-vitro-Versuche über die Methämoglobinbildung durch Chinonderivate

Summary

Heubner states that the oxidation of hæmoglobin to methæmoglobin by quinones should be due to a tension between two oxidation-reduction systems, the quinone-hydroquinone system and the hæmoglobin-methæmoglobin system. The authors tried to prove this statement by using various quinones with different oxidation-reduction potentials. An analysis of the results obtained suggests, however, that the oxidation-reduction potential is not the only factor determining the equilibrium. It seems that some other constitutionally conditioned factors also play an important role in this process.

Experiments with non-hæmolyzed erythrocytes show that all quinones tested are able to pass through the cellular membrane of the erythrocytes without undergoing any chemical reaction. Thus, the experiments with hæmolyzed solutions and those with intact erythrocytes gave identical results.