The Measurement of Blood Gases and the Manometric Techniques Developed by Donald Dexter Van Slyke
Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: The Determination of Gases in Blood and Other Solutions by Vacuum Extraction and Manometric Measurement. I. (Van Slyke, D. D., and Neill, J. M. (1924) J. Biol. Chem. 61, 523–543) Donald Dexter Van Slyke (1883–1971) was born in Pike, New York and attended high school in Geneva, New York. In biochemical circles, he was known universally as Van with no last name required. He received a Bachelors degree in Chemistry and a Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry (1907) from the University of Michigan. He had intended to become an agricultural chemist like his father, but after his father met P. A. Levene at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (later Rockefeller University) he convinced his son to work with Levene. (Levene was the author of an earlier Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) Classic (1Levene P.A. J. Biol. Chem. 1919; 40 (JBC Classics:): 415-424http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/277/22/e11Abstract Full Text PDF Google Scholar).) Van Slyke's biochemical career thus began at Rockefeller in 1907 and would continue until 1949. His first independent report described the quantification of aliphatic amino acids by using nitrous acid to measure α-amino acid nitrogen (2Van Slyke D.D. A method for quantitative determination of aliphatic amino acids. Applications to the study of proteolysis and proteolytic products..J. Biol. Chem. 1911; 9: 185Abstract Full Text PDF Google Scholar). This was a gasometric method, an approach that characterized his research career. It has been said that if a biochemical process involved a gas, Van Slyke could measure it. In 1914, Van Slyke was appointed chemist at the newly opened Rockefeller Hospital, although he was not trained in medical chemistry. He noted that patients dying from diabetes experienced an acidotic coma, but there was no way to assess accurately the onset of acidosis or to measure the effects of alkali therapy. To this end, he devised a simple gasometric method for measuring accurately the concentration of sodium bicarbonate in a milliliter of blood. For this assay he invented the Van Slyke volumetric gas apparatus, which was soon found to be so useful that it was found in virtually all clinical laboratories and many biochemistry laboratories as well. The culmination of his work on blood acid-base balance was published between 1921 and 1924 (3Van Slyke D.D. Studies on acidosis. XVII. The normal and abnormal variations in the acid-base balance of the blood..J. Biol. Chem. 1921; 48: 153Abstract Full Text PDF Google Scholar, 4Van Slyke D.D. Wu H. McLean F.C. Studies of gas and electrolyte equilibria in the blood. V. Factors controlling the electrolyte and water distribution in the blood..J. Biol. Chem. 1923; 56: 765Abstract Full Text PDF Google Scholar) and established the basic parameters that are used even today for diagnosis of acid-base abnormalities and includes the paper selected as this JBC Classic. This paper describes the construction and use of the manometric system and the methodology for measuring and calculating the CO2, O2, and HCO3− concentrations in blood. (An advertisement for the Van Slyke manometric apparatus is presented along with the Classic paper.) The new method improved both the accuracy and sensitivity of his original volumetric apparatus, and with it he published a particularly important series of papers on the complete gas and electrolyte equilibria in blood and their variation as a function of respiration. These studies focused on the role of hemoglobin as an O2 and CO2 carrier, and Van Slyke was able to account quantitatively for the effect of pH changes on O2 and CO2 transport and for the distribution of water and diffusable ions, HCO3−, Cl–, and H+ between blood plasma and red cells (4Van Slyke D.D. Wu H. McLean F.C. Studies of gas and electrolyte equilibria in the blood. V. Factors controlling the electrolyte and water distribution in the blood..J. Biol. Chem. 1923; 56: 765Abstract Full Text PDF Google Scholar). Among his other scientific contributions, he developed approaches with a sound biochemical basis to study clinical problems such as acidosis and kidney disease. He showed that the liver played an important role in amino acid metabolism and that the kidney produces ammonia. He also discovered a new amino acid, hydroxylysine, which is a prominent constituent of collagen (5Van Slyke D.D. Hiller A. Dillon R.T. MacFadyen D. The unidentified base in gelatin..Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 1938; 38: 548Crossref Scopus (8) Google Scholar). The majority of Van Slyke's 317 publications are in the JBC. At the age of 31, he was asked to become the Managing Editor of the JBC and served in that capacity until 1925. He was involved in the review of every paper and took personal responsibility for maintaining the high standards of the Journal. It is reported that he occasionally rewrote papers for authors, if he felt the science was worth reporting. After resigning as Managing Editor, he continued to serve as a member of the Editorial Board until 1950. In 1949, he became professor emeritus at Rockefeller, and although he could have continued his research there, he decided to accept the position of Assistant Director for Biology and Medicine at the newly formed Brookhaven National Laboratory. He continued his research at Brookhaven until a few months before his death at the age of 88. 1The biographical information for this Classic Introduction was taken from two articles (6Hastings A.B. Obituary of Donald Dexter Van Slyke..J. Biol. Chem. 1972; 247: 1635-1640PubMed Google Scholar, 7Hastings A.B. Biographical Memoir of Donald Dexter Van Slyke. 1976; 48 (Vol. , pp.– 360, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C.): 309Google Scholar).1The biographical information for this Classic Introduction was taken from two articles (6Hastings A.B. Obituary of Donald Dexter Van Slyke..J. Biol. Chem. 1972; 247: 1635-1640PubMed Google Scholar, 7Hastings A.B. Biographical Memoir of Donald Dexter Van Slyke. 1976; 48 (Vol. , pp.– 360, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C.): 309Google Scholar).
Source: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,430
OpenAlex ID: W1500697367