Erythrocyte 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, PO2 50% and available O2 in rabbits with bleeding anaemia superimposed on the early post-natal fall in haemoglobin.

Erythrocyte 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG), PO2 50%, whole blood haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Hct) and available O2 were determined in two matched groups of suckling rabbits from the 17th to the 34th day after birth. One group was subjected to repeated bleeding, amounting to 1.0-1.5% of the body weight, on day 17, 19, 22 and 25, while the other served as control. The bleeding group had markedly lower Hb and Hct than the control group, which showed the ordinary post-natal fall in Hb. There were, however, no differences between 2,3-DPG and PO2 50% in the two groups. The changes were essentially the same as observed previously in animals in which the post-natal anaemia was avoided by iron-treatment. Thus, these and previously reported data show that the post-natal rise in 2,3-DPG and PO2 50% within wide limits is uninfluenced by marked variations in Hb, even severe bleeding anaemia, and support the assumption that the post-natal rise in 2,3-DPG and PO2 50% is dominated by processes related to the growth and maturation of the animals.