1. The oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production of normal non-nucleated red corpuscles stored in the ice-chest is very slow; in the ice-chest, the temperature of which is 4°-7°C., in about 70-80 hours the oxygen content of the blood is lost by about 50-80%, while in blood mixed with adrenaline there is only a decrease of about 15-40% in the same time.
2. The rate of reduction of normal blood stored in the incubator of 34°-38°C. is very great in comparison with that in the ice-chest; in about 10 hours it acquires a darkish red colour, and in about 15-50 hours the oxygen content is lost by about 80-100%, while in blood mixed with adrenaline, there is only a decrease of about 50-60%.
3. Adrenaline decreases the rate of the increase in the carbon dioxide content of the blood stored in the ice-chest or the incubator. Generally, the influence of adrenaline on the production of carbon dioxide is greater than that on the oxygen consumption; in both the blood with and that without adrenaline, the oxygen consumption and the carbon dioxide productgion do not run closely parallel to each other; even after the entire loss of the oxygen content, the production of carbon dioxide can continue.
4. There is fairly large variation in the results of experiments on the gaseous metabolism of blood stored in the ice-chest and the incubator; this variation is due especially to the temperature and the haemoglobin content.
5. While the effect of adrenaline on the gas metabolism of blood is very marked, it has no influence on the oxygen capacity of the blood.
6. The reduction of haemolyzed blood, compared to that of normal blood is very remarkable; when the blood is haemolyzed, the time taken for complete reduction is shortened and by storage in the incubator for ten hours its oxygen content is entirely lost, while of adrenaline is added, the rate of the reduction of blood is markedly retarded and nearly equal to that in the case of non-haemolyzed normal blood.
No difference in the efficacy of adrenaline on the haemolyzed blood and the non-haemolyzed is found. The action of adrenaline on the gaseous metabolism of blood does not depend on the presence or not of plasma membrane of blood corpuscles.
7. Adrenaline reduces also the gaseous metabolism of serumless washed corpuscles as distinctly as that of normal blood; namely the efficacy of adrenaline has no relation to the presence or not of serum.
8. Adrenaline acts similarly on the gaseous exchange of washed and haemolyzed blood. Thus it has no relation to cell membrane, cell structure or serum.
9. Adrenaline retards the rate of reduction of oxyhaemoglobin solution in which no stroma is contained, thus the action of adrenaline has no relation to stroma of red corpuscles.
10. The inhibitory action of the adrenaline solution on the gaseous metabolism of blood is notdue to chloretone contained in it, nor is it due to its acidity. Hydrochloric acid solution of the same acidity increases the rate of reduction of blood.
11. Adrenaline also retards the rate of reduction of blood when it is treated with reducing gas. When the blood is reduced with carbon dioxide gas, the effect is more marked than when nitrogen gas is used.
12. Adrenaline does not accelerate the rate of oxidation, but on the contrary has a tendency to retard it.
13. For a few minutes after the intravenous injection of adrenaline, just during the rise of the blood pressure the blood of the external jugular vein is red-colored; the difference between the quantities of oxygen contained in it and in the arterial blood becomes small. This action of adrenaline has no relation to the state of the blood flow.
14. The effect ofadrenaline injected into the body can be proved
in vitro in the blood; of the blood taken within a few minutes after the intravenous injection of adrenaline, the gaseous exchange
in vitro is markedly decreased.
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