Hemoglobin by molecules such as carbon monoxide (for example, from tobacco smoking, exhaust gas, and incomplete combustion in furnaces). CO competes with oxygen at the heme binding site. Hemoglobin's binding affinity for CO is 250 times greater than its affinity for oxygen, meaning that small amounts of CO dramatically reduce hemoglobin's ability to transport oxygen. Since carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas, and poses a potentially fatal threat, carbon monoxide detectors have become commercially available to warn of dangerous levels in residences. When hemoglobin combines with CO, it forms a very bright red compound called carboxyhemoglobin, which may
Blood doping used by cyclists in combination with cobalt chloride/desferrioxamine stimulate and de-regulate the natural production of erythropoietin hormone. At physiologically low PaO around 40 mmHg, EPO is released from the kidneys to increase hemoglobin transportation. The combination of drugs consistently releases EPO due to increased transcription at the cellular level. The effect wears off when the HIF stabilizers, cobalt chloride/desferrioxamine is excreted and/or decayed by the body. Myo-inositol trispyrophosphate (ITPP), also known as compound number OXY111A, is an allosteric effector of hemoglobin which causes a rightward shift in the oxygen–hemoglobin dissociation curve, increasing the amount of oxygen released from red blood