During strenuous exercise, active skeletal muscle produces carbon dioxide and H+, lowering the local blood pH. Which of the following changes in hemoglobin function promotes oxygen delivery to the active muscle?
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Answer: D (Its oxygen affinity decreases, increasing oxygen delivery to the muscle.)
A decrease in local blood pH promotes proton binding to hemoglobin, stabilizing a conformation with lower affinity for oxygen. Hemoglobin therefore releases more oxygen in metabolically active skeletal muscle, increasing oxygen delivery to the tissue.