ABSTRACT
Myoglobin is a protein which is present in muscle and quite similar in composition and properties to hemoglobin. It plays a role in oxygen transport within muscle cells which to a degree parallels the action which hemoglobin has in the blood. Myoglobin contains heme as a prosthetic group and exhibits a peroxidase-like activity which is essentially the same as that of hemoglobin. Accordingly, this compound reacts in various chemical systems for detecting blood in a manner which is identical to the reaction of hemoglobin. In certain instances, muscle cells may release their myoglobin so that it diffuses into the circulating blood and is then excreted by the kidney into the urine. One of the primary limitations of the older procedures which depended on solubility differences or absorption spectra is that such procedures are not adequately sensitive to recognize critical amounts of myoglobin or hemoglobin in urine.
