Overview
- Researchers traced the unexplained drop in blood sugar under hypoxia to red blood cells, which boosted glucose uptake via higher GLUT1 on cells produced in low oxygen.
- Labeled-glucose experiments showed these cells rapidly convert glucose into 2,3‑DPG to facilitate oxygen release, driven by a Band 3–mediated switch that frees glycolytic enzymes.
- Causal tests in mice confirmed the role of red cells: keeping counts normal thwarted hypoxia-induced hypoglycemia, while transfusing extra cells at normal oxygen lowered glucose.
- A lab-created pill, HypoxyStat, increased hemoglobin’s oxygen affinity to mimic tissue hypoxia and completely reversed high blood sugar in diabetic mice, outperforming existing drugs in study comparisons.
- The findings, published in Cell Metabolism, offer a mechanistic explanation for lower diabetes rates at high altitude and suggest red blood cells could be targeted as therapeutic glucose sinks.