Oxygen affinity and electrolyte distribution of human blood: changes induced by propranolol

Propranolol causes a massive leakage of potassium ions from red cells, which results in an alteration of the Gibbs Donnan equilibrium across the red cell membrane. According to such a mechanism, the presence of propranolol significantly increases the hydrogen ion activity of the interior of the red cell, causing a decreased oxygen affinity of hemoglobin according to the classical Bohr effect. No release of 2,3 diphosphoglycerate which may be bound to the membrane is thus necessary to explain the effect of propranolol on the oxygen dissociation curve of blood.