Question

How much haemoglobin is there in 100 ml blood of an average healthy man?
(a) 15g
(b) 5g
(c) 15mg
(d) 50g

Answer 1

In red blood cells, haemoglobin is a protein molecule that brings oxygen from the lungs to the tissues of the body and returns carbon dioxide back to the lungs from the tissues. Haemoglobin is normally measured from a sample of blood as part of the routine complete blood count (CBC) examination.

Complete answer:
- Adult males have around 14 to 18 gm per 100ml.
- Four protein molecules (globulin chains) that are bound together make up haemoglobin.
- Two alpha- globin chains and two beta-globin chains are in the normal adult haemoglobin (abbreviated as Hgb or Hb) molecule.
- Beta chains are not normal in foetuses and babies, and two alpha chains and two gamma chains constitute the haemoglobin molecule.
- The gamma chains are increasingly substituted by beta chains as the baby develops, creating the adult structure of haemoglobin.

Additional information:
- In order to preserve the form of red blood cells, haemoglobin also plays an essential role. Red blood cells are circular in their normal form, with narrow centres that resemble a doughnut without a hole in the middle.
- Several haemoglobin calculation methods exist, most of which are currently performed by automated machines designed to conduct various blood tests.
- The red blood cells are broken down inside the machine in order to bring the haemoglobin into a solution.
- A chemical containing cyanide that attaches tightly to the haemoglobin molecule to form cyanmethemoglobin is exposed to free haemoglobin.
- The amount of haemoglobin can be measured by shining light through the solution and calculating how much light is absorbed specifically at a wavelength of 540 nanometers (nm).
So, the correct answer is ‘(a) 15g’.

Note:
- An essential iron-containing porphyrin compound called heme is found in each globulin chain. An iron atom that is important in bringing oxygen and carbon dioxide into our blood is found within the heme compound.
- Often responsible for the red colour of the blood is the iron found in haemoglobin.