TRANSPORT OF CARBON DIOXIDE
Dr. Nabeel Beeran
Assistant Professor
Department of Physiology
Yenepoya Medical College
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Competency Number
PY6.3: Describe and discuss the transport of respiratory gases:
Oxygen and Carbon dioxide
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Specific Learning Objectives
At the end of class students should be able to:
1. Describe the process of CO2 transport in blood.
2. Explain chloride shift mechanism and its significance.
3. Explain the physiological basis of CO2 dissociation curve and
Haldane effect.
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Diffusion of Carbon dioxide:
• From the BLOOD into the ALVEOLI
• From the ALVEOLI into the ATMOSPHERE
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• CO2 is transported from the tissues to the lungs and depends on:
i) Blood O2 content
ii) Number of RBC’s present in the blood
iii) Amount of reduced Hb
• Transport of CO2 takes place in three steps:
1. Uptake of CO2 by blood from the tissue
2. Transport in the blood
3. Delivery to the lung
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TRANSPORT OF CARBON DIOXIDE
• Arterial blood :- CO2 content (concentration) - 48 ml/dl
CO2 tension -- pCO2 of 40 mm Hg
• Venous blood :- CO2 content (concentration) - 52 ml/dl
CO2 tension -- pCO2 of 46 mm Hg
• A-V CO2 difference = 4ml/dl
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Out of 4 ml of CO2 :
• In dissolved form (0.3 ml/dl)
• As carbamino compounds (0.7 ml/dl)
• As bicarbonate (3 ml/dl)
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TRANSPORT OF CARBON DIOXIDE
• Carbon dioxide is transported in the blood in three ways:
1. In dissolved state (7%)
2. In bicarbonate form (70%)
3. In carbamino compound form (23%)
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Simple solution - In dissolved state (7%)
• Carbon dioxide diffuses into blood and dissolves in the fluid of
plasma
• Only 0.3ml of carbon dioxide is transported in dissolved state
• Solubility of CO2 is 20 times than that of O2
• In plasma (0.2 ml) :
CO2 ₊ H2O H2CO3 (less)
• In RBC (0.1 ml) :
CO2 ₊ H20 CA H2CO3 (rapid reaction)
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In bicarbonate form (70%)
• In plasma (2.1 ml) :
oCarbon dioxide is carried as sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) -
phosphate buffer
CO2 + H2O H2CO3 + Na2HPO4
• In RBC (0.9 ml) :
oCarbon dioxide is carried as potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3)
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In bicarbonate form (70%)
• CO2 enters the RBC’s
• In RBC’s, CO2 combines with water to form carbonic acid
• The reaction is very rapid because of the presence of carbonic
anhydrase
• Carbonic acid dissociates into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions
• Bicarbonate ions in the cell increases
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• Due to high concentration, bicarbonate ions diffuse through the
cell membrane into plasma
• When the negatively charged bicarbonate ions move out of RBC
into the plasma, the negatively charged chloride ions move into
the RBC in order to maintain the electrolyte equilibrium
• This shift is known as Chloride Shift or Hamburger Phenomenon
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• Bicarbonate ions combine with sodium ions in the plasma and
form sodium bicarbonate
• Hydrogen ions dissociated from carbonic acid are buffered by
hemoglobin inside the cell
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Chloride Shift
K Sembulingam - Essentials of Medical Physiology 14
Transport of CO2 as carbamino compounds (23%)
• In RBC’s :
CO2 combines with amino group of hemoglobin to form carbamino
hemoglobin
CO2 + HbNH2 Hb.NH.COOH
• In plasma :
CO2 combines with amino group of plasma proteins to form
carbamino proteins
CO2 + PrNH2 Pr.NH.COOH
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Carbon dioxide dissociation curve
• Demonstrates the relationship between the partial pressure of
carbon dioxide and the quantity of carbon dioxide content in blood
K Sembulingam - Essentials of Medical Physiology 16
Haldane effect
• The effect by which combination of oxygen with hemoglobin
displaces carbon dioxide from hemoglobin
• Takes place at lung level (promotes carbon dioxide transport)
• Excess of oxygen content in blood causes shift of the carbon dioxide
dissociation curve to right
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Mechanism of Haldane effect:
Due to the combination with oxygen, hemoglobin becomes strongly
acidic, hydrogen ions are released in excess
Hydrogen ions bind with bicarbonate ions to form carbonic acid
Carbonic acid in turn dissociates into water and CO2
CO2 is released from blood into alveoli
Highly acidic hemoglobin has low tendency to combine with CO2
Oxygenation of Hb shifts the CO2 curve to shift to right
Loading of oxygen causes unloading of CO2 at lung level
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Significance of Haldane effect:
• Haldane effect is essential for:
1. Release of carbon dioxide from blood into the alveoli of lungs.
2. Uptake of oxygen by the blood.
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Release of CO2 in lungs:
• Venous blood pCO2 : 46mmHg
• Alveolar air pCO2 : 40 mmHg
Release of CO2 from carbaminohemoglobin:
• Deoxyhemoglobin is converted to oxyhemoglobin
• Oxyhemoglobin has very low affinity for carbon dioxide, thus
carbon dioxide diffuses out of RBC’s
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RESPIRATORY QUOTIENT
• Ratio of rate of carbon dioxide excretion and rate of oxygen
consumption per minute
• Respiratory exchange ratio
• Normal value = 4ml/5ml
= 0.8
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Summary
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Assignment
1. Describe how CO2 is carried in blood?
2. Explain the physiological basis of CO2 dissociation curve.
3. What is Haldane effect and where is it taking place?
4. What is Hamburger phenomenon and where is it taking place?
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References
1. Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology - 26th Edition.
2. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology - 12th Edition.
3. Textbook of Medical Physiology, G K Pal - 4th Edition.
4. Indu Khurana Textbook of Medical Physiology - 2nd Edition.
5. K Sembulingam - Essentials of Medical Physiology - 6th Edition.
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• PPT reviewed by Review Committee member
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THANK YOU
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