Abstract
The development of hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers has been propagated for replacement of the oxygen carrying properties of red blood cells for almost one century. Using a Clark-type multi-wire oxygen surface electrode and the dorsal skin fold chamber model of the awake Syrian golden hamster, local tissue pO<sub>2</sub> was analyzed in the thin striated skin muscle before and after administration of an ultrapurified polymerized bovine hemoglobin solution (U-PBHb<sup>®</sup>, Biopure Corp., Boston, Mass., USA) under the following experimental conditions: (a) hypervolemic infusion with U-PBHb at ∼10% of calculated blood volume, and (b) isovolemic exchange transfusion with U-PBHb by replacing ∼50% of calculated blood volume. Control animals of group a received equivalent treatment with either isotonic saline or dextran 60, control animals of group b received dextran 60. Local tissue pO<sub>2</sub> was found slightly decreased after both hypervolemic infusion and isovolemic exchange transfusion with U-PBHb, while frequency distribution curves of local tissue pO<sub>2</sub> were found more narrow (less values <10 mm Hg and >25 mm Hg), suggesting a more homogeneous tissue pO<sub>2</sub> distribution. The data thus indicate that U-PBHb slightly decreases mean tissue pO<sub>2</sub> after both hypervolemic infusion and isovolemic exchange transfusion which is accompanied by an effective homogenization of local tissue pO<sub>2</sub> distribution as compared to dextran 60.
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