ABSTRACT
Tissue oxygen or energy positive balance is necessary for the required level of ATP production by mitochondria. e majority of oxygen in a mammalian organism is delivered to cells by erythrocytes: it diuses along the partial pressure gradient from the lungs (100 mm Hg) to the bloodstream, where it combines chemically to hemoglobin (Hb) in erythrocytes and is carried by convective transport through the large vessels down to arterioles and capillaries. Smaller pressure near the mitochondria (1 mm Hg) favors oxygen diusion from the microcirculation compartments into the cells (Figure 6.1).
