Comparison of the Automatized and the Optimized Carbon Monoxid Rebreathing Protocol

Comparison of the Automatized and the Optimized Carbon Monoxid Rebreathing Protocol Determining Hemoglobinmass With Capillary and Venous Blood Sampling

The aim of this study is the comparison of two measurement protocols determining hemoglobin mass with two different blood sampling strategies.Both protocols are based on the principle of the carbonmonoxid (CO) rebreathing method. During this measurement, CO is inhaled for a specific time period by the subject in a closed circuit and it is used as a marker to tag circulating hemoglobin.

The optimized CO rebreathing protocol (oCO) will be compared against the automatized CO rebreathing protocol (aCO). Although theses two protocols using the same method, they show some relevant differences.

The oCO use a 2 minutes rebreathing period in a seated position and capillary blood is taken. The aCO use a 10 minutes rebreathing period in a supine position and venous blood samples are taken.

It is essential to know to what extent the aCO with capillary or venous blood sampling with different rebreathing time and position compared to oCO will influence the provided hemoglobin mass values. It is important to ensure the comparability of formely hemoglobinmass data measured using oCO with hemoglobinmass data measured using aCO for scientific research.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age 18 or higher
• healthy (self-reported)
• women and men

Exclusion Criteria:

• smoker
• implementation of high altitude training six weeks before and during the study
• sickness before and during the study
• blood donation 6 weeks before and during the study
• pregnancy