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Role of Myoglobin
Meat color
Myoglobin contains hemes, pigments responsible for the color of red meat. The
color that meat takes is partly determined by the degree of oxidation of the
myoglobin. In fresh meat the iron atom is the ferrous state bound to a dioxygen
molecule (O2). Meat cooked well done is brown because the iron atom is now in
the ferric (+3) oxidation state, having lost an electron. If meat has been exposed to
nitrites, it will remain pink because the iron atom is bound to NO, nitric oxide (true
of, e.g., corned beef or cured hams). Grilled meats can also take on a pink "smoke
ring" that comes from the iron binding to a molecule of carbon monoxide. [9] Raw
meat packed in a carbon monoxide atmosphere also shows this same pink "smoke
ring" due to the same principles. Notably, the surface of this raw meat also displays
the pink color, which is usually associated in consumers' minds with fresh meat.
This artificially induced pink color can persist, reportedly up to one year.[10]
Hormel and Cargill are both reported to use this meat-packing process, and meat
treated this way has been in the consumer market since 2003.
Role in disease
Myoglobin is released from damaged muscle tissue (rhabdomyolysis), which has
very high concentrations of myoglobin. The released myoglobin is filtered by the
kidneys but is toxic to the renal tubular epithelium and so may cause acute renal
failure. It is not the myoglobin itself that is toxic (it is a protoxin) but the
ferrihemate portion that is dissociated from myoglobin in acidic environments
(e.g., acidic urine, lysosomes).
Myoglobin is a sensitive marker for muscle injury, making it a potential marker for
heart attack in patients with chest pain.[13] However, elevated myoglobin has low
specificity for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and thus CK-MB, cTnT, ECG,
and clinical signs should be taken into account to make the diagnosis.