OXYGEN DISSOCIATION CURVES IN SICKLE CELL ANEMIA AND IN SUBJECTS WITH THE SICKLE CELL TRAIT

Abstract

In view of the well recognized differences be-tween sickle and normal hemoglobin (1, 2), it was thought that a comparative study of the affinities of sickle and normal hemoglobin for oxygen as shown by the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve would be of interest. MATERIAL AND METHODS Material: A large number of African blood donors were tested for the sickling phenomenon using the sodium hydrosulphite technique (3). All donors were healthy mine laborers acclimatized to manual work on the Witwatersrand Goldfields. Of the seven subjects studied with the sickle cell trait, two came from Angola, two from Nyasaland and one each from