Maintenance of high extracellular pH does not influence cell pH or metabolism in submerged anoxic bullfrogs

The role of mineralized tissue in the buffering of lactic acid during anoxia and exercise in the leopard frogRana pipiens

To evaluate the role of mineralized tissues of the leopard frog in buffering acid, we analyzed the composition of femur and auditory capsule, the latter of which encloses a portion of the endolymphatic lime sacs, and investigated the extent to which these tissues are involved in buffering lactic acid after 2.5 h of anoxia and 10-19 min of strenuous exercise at 15°C. We analyzed the following tissues for lactate: plasma, heart, liver,gastrocnemius muscle, femur, auditory capsule and carcass. Plasma[Ca2+], [Mg2+], [inorganic phosphate (Pi)],[Na+] and [K+] were also measured. Femur Ca2+, Pi and CO32- compositions were similar to bone in other vertebrates. Auditory capsule had significantly more CaCO3 than femur. Lactate was significantly elevated in all tissues after anoxia and exercise, including femur and auditory capsule. Anoxia increased plasma [Ca2+], [Mg2+], [Pi]and [K+] and had no effect on plasma [Na+]. Exercise increased plasma [Mg2+], [Pi] and [K+] and had no effect on plasma [Ca2+] or [Na+]. The skeleton and endolymphatic lime sacs buffered 21% of the total lactate load during anoxia, and 9% after exercise. The exact contribution of the entire endolymphatic sac system to lactate buffering could not be determined in the present study. We conclude that the mineralized tissues function as buffers during anoxia and exercised induced lactic acidosis in amphibians.

Acid-base balance during hypoxic hypometabolism: selected vertebrate strategies

An important functional advantage of hypoxic hypometabolism is that it blunts the acid-base consequences of hypoxia. Hypoxia can lead to anaerobiosis and metabolic acidosis and, in animals that are apneic, to respiratory acidosis. A fall in blood and tissue pH is a major limiting factor in hypoxic tolerance and a variety of strategies occur in vertebrates, in concert with hypometabolism, to respond to this acid-base challenge. These include sequestering of lactic acid away from the circulating blood during the hypoxic exposure, either in underperfused tissues or in mineralized tissues, supplementing extracellular buffering by releasing bone mineral into the circulation, and utilizing alternative metabolic pathways for anaerobiosis to produce ethanol rather than lactate as the principal end-product. For submerged air-breathing ectotherms, effective cutaneous O2 and CO2 exchange can also allow an animal to avoid or minimize both anaerobiosis and respiratory acidosis. These responses serve to maintain a viable acid-base state in the body and to extend the time that the hypoxic stress can be endured.

The Physiology of Hibernation in Canadian Leopard Frogs (Rana pipiens) and Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana)

Canadian northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) and bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) were acclimated to 3 degrees C and submerged in anoxic (0-5 mmHg) and normoxic (Po(2) approximately 158 mmHg) water. Periodic measurements of blood Po(2), Pco(2), and pH were made on samples taken anaerobically from subsets of each species. Blood plasma was analyzed for [Na(+)], [K(+)], [Cl(-)], [lactate], [glucose], total calcium, total magnesium, and osmolality. Blood hematocrit was determined, and plasma bicarbonate concentration was calculated. Both species died within 4 d of anoxic submergence. Anoxia intolerance would rule out hibernation in mud, which is anoxic. Both species survived long periods of normoxic submergence (R. pipiens, 125 d; R. catesbeiana, 150 d) with minimal changes in acid-base and ionic status. We conclude that ranid frogs require a hibernaculum where the water has a high enough Po(2) to drive cutaneous diffusion, allowing the frogs to extract enough O(2) to maintain aerobic metabolism, but that an ability to tolerate anoxia for several days may still be ecologically meaningful.

Respiratory, metabolic, and acid-base correlates of aerobic metabolic rate reduction in overwintering frogs

Aerobic metabolic rates (MO2) and respiratory quotients (RQ = CO2 production/MO2) were measured contemporaneously in hibernating frogs Rana temporaria (L.), submerged for 90 days at 3 degrees C. After 3 mo of submergence in fully aerated water, MO2 levels were 61% of those seen at the same temperature before hibernation. Over the first 40 days of hibernation, RQ values (< or = 0.82) favored a lipid-based metabolism that progressively shifted to an exclusively carbohydrate metabolism (RQ = 1.01) by 90 days of hibernation. Liver glycogen concentrations fell by 68% during the first 8 wk of submergence, thereafter exhibiting a less rapid rate of utilization. Conversely, muscle glycogen concentrations remained stable over the first 2 mo of the experiment before falling by 33% over the course of the remaining 2 mo, indicating that the frog was recruiting muscle glycogen reserves to fuel metabolism. Submerged frogs exhibited an extracellular acidosis during the first week of submergence, but over the course of the next 15 wk "extracellular pH" values were not significantly different from the values obtained from the control air-breathing animals. The initial extracellular acidosis was not mirrored in the intracellular compartment, and the acid-base state was not significantly different from the control values for the first 8 wk. However, over the subsequent 8- to 16-wk period, the acid-base status shifted to a lower intracellular pH-HCO3 concentration set point, indicative of a metabolic acidosis. Even so, there was no indication that the acidosis could be attributed to anaerobic metabolism, as both plasma and muscle lactate levels remained low and stable. Muscle adenylate energy charge and lactate-to-pyruvate and creatine-to-phosphocreatine ratios also remained unchanged throughout hibernation. The capacity for profound metabolic rate suppression together with the ability to match substrate use to shifts in aerobic metabolic demands and the ability to fix new acid-base homeostatic set points are highly adaptive, both in terms of survival and reproductive success, to an animal that is often forced to overwinter under the cover of ice.

In vitro tolerance to anoxia and ischemia in isolated hearts from hypoxia sensitive and hypoxia tolerant turtles

Although freshwater turtles as a group are highly anoxia tolerant, dramatic interspecific differences in the degree of anoxia tolerance have been demonstrated in vivo. Painted turtles (Chrysemys picta bellii) appear to be the most hypoxia-tolerant species thus far studied, while softshelled turtles (Trionyx spinifer) are the most hypoxia-sensitive. We have assumed that this dichotomy persists in vitro but have not, until now, directly tested this assumption. We therefore, directly compared the responses of isolated, perfused, working hearts from these two species to either 240 min of anoxia, 90 min of global ischemia, or 240 min of global ischemia followed by reoxygenation/reperfusion. Isolated hearts were perfused at 20 degrees C and monitored continuously for phosphocreatine (PCr), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), inorganic phosphate (Pi), and intracellular pH (pHi) by 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as well as for ventricular developed pressure and heart rate. Contrary to our expectations, we observed few significant differences in any of these parameters between painted and softshelled turtle hearts. Hearts from both species tolerated 240 min of anoxia equally well and both restored PCr, pHi, and Pi contents to control levels during reoxygenation. We did observe some significant interspecific differences in the 90 min (pHi and Pi) and 240 min (PCr) ischemia protocols although these seemed to suggest that Trionyx hearts might be more tolerant to these stresses than Chrysemys hearts. We conclude that: (a) the observed in vivo differences in anoxia tolerance between painted and softshelled turtles must either be due to differences in organ metabolism in organs other than the heart (e.g., brain) or to some integrative physiologic differences between the species; and (b) isolated hearts from a species known to be relatively anoxia sensitive in vivo can exhibit an apparent high degree of anoxia and ischemia tolerance in vitro.