Hemoglobin is one of the compounds in the body that provides oxygen transport. It is found in red blood cells. Red blood cells have a lifespan of approximately 120 days. After that, the red blood cells are broken down in the body, and with them the hemoglobin they contain. This hemoglobin breakdown takes place first in the spleen and then in the liver. Certain diseases can cause disturbances in the breakdown of hemoglobin.
What is hemoglobin breakdown?
Hemoglobin is one of the compounds in the body that provides oxygen transport. It is found in the red blood cells. Under normal circumstances, after a lifespan of about 120 days, erythrocytes, also called red blood cells, are broken down. This breakdown releases the hemoglobin that is in them, which can then be broken down as well. First, the heme is separated from the globin during this degradation process. The globin portion of the hemoglobin is then broken down into the amino acids it contains. These amino acids, in turn, can then be further metabolized by the body as needed. The heme portion of hemoglobin is then bound to a protein specifically required for heme transport called hemopexin. This hemopexin, in turn, is taken up by the macrophages and cleaves the heme into the components billiverdin, carbon monoxide, and an iron II ion. For this cleavage to take place, the presence of the enzyme hemoxigenase is required. The billiverdin is then reduced to billirubin in a further metabolic reaction. Through many further reactions, the degradation products of billirubin ultimately pass through the bile into the intestine, where bacterial beta-glucuronidases break down most of it. The majority of the metabolic degradation products then formed are subsequently excreted. Only a small proportion is transported back to the liver and can then be made available to the metabolism again.
Function and task
Overaged cells must generally be broken down and metabolized in the body, because otherwise they can no longer fulfill their function. This also applies to red blood cells, which are able to perform their task of transporting oxygen in the body optimally for about 120 days. After that, they have to be replaced by new, functional red blood cells. With regard to the degradation products of hemoglobin, it has now been proven that the carbon monoxide produced in this process in particular is needed in the metabolism for various vital tasks. Therefore, it is very important not to disturb the function of the enzyme heme oxygenase. One of the most important biological functions of carbon monoxide, which is produced during hemoglobin degradation, is to promote vascularization, to have an anti-inflammatory effect during inflammatory processes, and to exert an antioxidant effect during oxidative stress. Furthermore, it has been scientifically proven that the carbon monoxide produced during hemoglobin degradation exerts an antifibrotic effect on excessive connective tissue formation. Carbon monoxide produced during hemoglobin degradation also has an inhibitory effect on apoptosis, or programmed cell death. The effects of increased or decreased hemoglobin breakdown are very complex, and disturbances of this system can promote various diseases. Adequate levels of exercise are also related, via the formation of hemoyigenase, to balanced hemoglobin breakdown and have become the focus of scientific research.
Diseases and ailments
Jaundice always indicates that the breakdown of hemoglobin has not taken place completely in the liver, or that it cannot be completed quickly enough due to an excessive amount of red blood cells to be broken down. The process of too much red blood cell breakdown is called hemolysis. Because cheap ruby can no longer be broken down quickly enough, the skin, hide and mucous membranes turn yellow, which in turn is known as jaundice. Too much or too little of the enzyme hemoxigenase can be very decisive for a person’s state of health. Too little of it, for example, is very harmful to embryonic development. This is often the case with smokers. The unborn children then lack a sufficient amount of carbon monoxide for the formation of new blood vessels, which is very important in this phase.In mothers, smoking can more easily lead to preeclampsia and thus also to late damage to the unborn child. Too little hemoxigenase and thus reduced hemoglobin breakdown can also lead to wound healing disorders. Too much hemoxigenase, on the other hand, and thus increased hemoglibin degradation, can in turn lead to tumor cells being promoted in their growth by tumor angiogenesis. Programmed cell death of tumor cells is thus inhibited, but vascularization to supply these tumor cells is promoted. Recently, science has also increasingly focused on the connection between heme oxygenase and the widespread disease type II diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. In this case, lack of exercise plays a decisive role. Sufficient exercise and a balanced, nutritious diet have been shown to prevent the formation of too much heme oxygenase, which leads to increased hemoglobin degradation. Especially in this very common disease, it has been found that a balanced amount of carbon monoxide in the metabolism is particularly important. Neither too much nor too little of it is healthy for humans in the long run. This shows how important a healthy lifestyle and thus good hemoglobin breakdown are for humans.
