Drug-induced oxidation and precipitation of hemoglobins A, S and C.

Analysis of optical absorption spectra of drug-hemoglobin reaction mixtures show that oxidation of oxyhemoglobins A, S and C by menadione and acetylphenylhydrazine and the consequent formation of methemoglobin, hemichromes and 'choleglobin' proceed at identical rates for all three hemoglobins. Nevertheless, precipitate formation, which is linked to hemichrome production, occurs in a definite order: S greater than C greater than A. Differences in precipitability among these three hemoglobins are linked to an as yet unidentified property of the aggregate hemichromes, which is not directly related to the rate of total hemichrome production.