Carbohydrate Metabolism: Blood

Haemoglobin and Respiration

-Archit Saraogi
 Carbohydrates
Fig 1.1:Glucose Molecule
Carbohydrates are compounds made up of
mostly oxygen, carbon and hydrogen
atoms. We will be talking about sugars,
mostly simple and complex sugars when
talking about their metabolism. Glucose
and fructose are common monosaccharides
(simple sugars), whereas common
disaccharides(complex saccarides) include
lactose, maltose, and sucrose. 
Carbohydrates form a very important part of
our human diet as it is the primary source
of energy in our bodies. The following
slides shall throw light on the metabolism
of carbohydrates and respiration .
 Carbohydrate Metabolism
Any discussion of carbohydrate metabolism focuses
on the synthesis and usage of glucose. In
mammals, glucose is transported throughout the
body through the bloodstream. Glucose molecules
not required for immediate energy production are
stored as glycogen in liver and muscle. The
energy requirements of many tissues depend on an
uninterrupted flow of glucose. Depending on a
cell’s metabolic requirements, glucose can also be
used to synthesize, for example, other
monosaccharides, fatty acids, and certain amino
acids. Figure 1.2 summarizes the major pathways
of carbohydrate metabolism in animals
 Respiration
Cellular respiration is a process with which living organisms
break down carbohydrates with help of oxygen to produce
carbon dioxide and energy stored in form of adenosine
triphosphate. The process takes place in the cytoplasm and in
the mitochondria . The stages of cellular respiration
include glycolysis, pyruvate oxidation, the citric acid or Krebs
cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.
 Glycolysis
Glycolysis (Figure 1.3), which consists of 10 reactions,
occurs in two stages:
1. Glucose is phosphorylated twice and cleaved to
form two molecules of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
(G-3-P). The two ATP molecules consumed during
this stage are like an investment, because this stage
creates the actual substrates for oxidation in a form
that is trapped inside the cell.
2. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is converted to
pyruvate. Four ATP and two NADH molecules are
produced. Because two ATP were consumed in stage
1, the net production of ATP per glucose molecule is
2. The glycolytic pathway can be summed up in the
following equation:

D-Glucose + 2 ADP + 2 P + 2 NAD → 2 pyruvate + 2 ATP+

2 NADH+ 2H+ + 2H2O