Explain the significance of the plateau and steep portions of the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve
What will be an ideal response?
The plateau portion of the curve is associated with the PO2 range that exists in the pulmonary capillaries where oxygen is loaded onto hemoglobin. The significance of this portion of the curve is that even if PO2 drops below normal there is little change in the total amount of oxygen transported in the blood. Significant changes do not occur until arterial PO2 drops below 60 mm Hg. The steep portion of the curve, between 0 mm Hg and 60 mm Hg, is in the blood range associated with systemic capillaries where oxygen is unloaded to the tissue. The significance of this portion of the curve is that actively metabolizing tissues using more oxygen sees an enhanced oxygen release from hemoglobin. In this portion of the curve a small drop in PO2 leads to large amounts of oxygen made available to the tissue.
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