Respiratory function of blood in hibernating and non-hibernating hedgehogs.

The oxygen affinity of the blood of hibernating hedgehogs has been investigated previously by Clausen and Ersland (1968) and Bartels et al. (1969). The results of these studies were conflicting in so far as Bartels et al. (1969) found an increase of the O2 affinity during hibernation resulting in a P50 of 23 mm Hg at pH 7.4 37 degrees C, while Clausen and Ersland reported a P50 of 33.6 mm Hg under the same conditions, a value which was only slightly different from the one found in nonhibernating animals (Bartels et al., 1969).