Erythrocyte 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and adenosine-triphosphate in cretins living at high altitude.

A comparison of concentrations of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) and adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) in the red cells of cretins and normal controls living at 3,700 m in the Nepal Himalayas has shown that 2,3-DPG and ATP levels were higher in the cretins. A negative correlation between hemoglobin and 2.3-DPG level was found. Chronic hypoxia appears to have provided the additional stress required to differentiate the significance of thyroid hormone deficiency in producing anemia from its effect on 2,3-DPG levels. If thyroid hormone is in fact one regulator of 2,3-DPG, the anemia of hypothyroidism appears to be more significant. This also suggest that the anemia of hypothyroidism, is at least in part, "pathologic" as opposed to "adaptive".