Summary of Hemoglobin Catabolism

Red blood cells are highly specialized cells whose primary function is to deliver oxygen to,
and remove carbon dioxide from, body tissues. The mature red blood cells have no nucleus or
DNA, so instead of processing the oxygen there, they are filled with red pigment hemoglobin
to aid the delivery of the oxygen. The red blood cell formation occurs in bone marrow and
about 200 billion new red blood cells are formed daily and with a life span of 4 months.
Hemoglobin is a conjugated protein; the protein portion is the globin and the nonprotein or
the prosthetic group is the heme. In the synthesis and degradation of hemoglobin, the old
RBC are broken down in spleen and liver. The tetrapyrrole carbon arrangement of heme, is
degraded to bile pigments that are eliminated in feces and to a lesser extent in urine. Bilirubin
has antioxidant properties and it is found in low concentration in cells but in higher
concentrations in blood. The tetrapyrrole degradation products obtained from heme are
known as bile pigments, when they are had been excreted in the process and removed in the
attachment they will be known as bile pigments because they are secreted with a bile and
most of them are highly colored. When the body is functioning properly, the degradation of
heme in the spleen to bilirubin and the removal of bilirubin from the blood by the liver
balance each other. Jaundice occurs when there is an imbalance making the bilirubin
concentration higher than normal.