hard · MCAT
Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is particularly dangerous because CO binds to hemoglobin with a much higher affinity than O_2.
If a patient is treated with 100% oxygen, which of the following best explains the therapeutic rationale?
- Oxygen acts as a noncompetitive inhibitor of CO, binding to an allosteric site to release the toxin.
- Oxygen reduces the acidity of the blood, which prevents CO from forming stable complexes.
- High oxygen concentrations increase the metabolic rate, allowing the body to oxidize CO into CO_2.
- The high partial pressure of O_2 shifts the equilibrium to displace CO from hemoglobin by mass action.
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