Blood acid-base status of an awake heterothermic rodent, Spermophilus tereticaudus

Acid-base balance in the developing marsupial: from ectotherm to endotherm

Marsupial joeys are born ectothermic and develop endothermy within their mother's thermally stable pouch. We hypothesized that Tammar wallaby joeys would switch from α-stat to pH-stat regulation during the transition from ectothermy to endothermy. To address this, we compared ventilation (V̇e), metabolic rate (V̇o2), and variables relevant to blood gas and acid-base regulation and oxygen transport including the ventilatory requirements (V̇e/V̇o2 and V̇e/V̇co2), partial pressures of oxygen (PaO2), carbon dioxide (PaCO2), pHa, and oxygen content (CaO2) during progressive hypothermia in ecto- and endothermic Tammar wallabies. We also measured the same variables in the well-studied endotherm, the Sprague-Dawley rat. Hypothermia was induced in unrestrained, unanesthetized joeys and rats by progressively dropping the ambient temperature (Ta). Rats were additionally exposed to helox (80% helium, 20% oxygen) to facilitate heat loss. Respiratory, metabolic, and blood-gas variables were measured over a large body temperature (Tb) range (∼15–16°C in both species). Ectothermic joeys displayed limited thermogenic ability during cooling: after an initial plateau, V̇o2 decreased with the progressive drop in Tb. The Tb of endothermic joeys and rats fell despite V̇o2 nearly doubling with the initiation of cold stress. In all three groups the changes in V̇o2 were met by changes in V̇e, resulting in constant V̇e/V̇o2 and V̇e/V̇co2, blood gases, and pHa. Thus, although thermogenic capability was nearly absent in ectothermic joeys, blood acid-base regulation was similar to endothermic joeys and rats. This suggests that unlike some reptiles, unanesthetized mammals protect arterial blood pH with changing Tb, irrespective of their thermogenic ability and/or stage of development.

Metabolism, temperature, and ventilation

In mammals and birds, all oxygen used (VO2) must pass through the lungs; hence, some degree of coupling between VO2 and pulmonary ventilation (VE) is highly predictable. Nevertheless, VE is also involved with CO2 elimination, a task that is often in conflict with the convection of O2. In hot or cold conditions, the relationship between VE and VO2 includes the participation of the respiratory apparatus to the control of body temperature and water balance. Some compromise among these tasks is achieved through changes in breathing pattern, uncoupling changes in alveolar ventilation from VE. This article examines primarily the relationship between VE and VO2 under thermal stimuli. In the process, it considers how the relationship is influenced by hypoxia, hypercapnia or changes in metabolic level. The shuffling of tasks in emergency situations illustrates that the constraints on VE-VO2 for the protection of blood gases have ample room for flexibility. However, when other priorities do not interfere with the primary goal of gas exchange, VE follows metabolic rate quite closely. The fact that arterial CO2 remains stable when metabolism is changed by the most diverse circumstances (moderate exercise, cold, cold and exercise combined, variations in body size, caloric intake, age, time of the day, hormones, drugs, etc.) makes it unlikely that VE and metabolism are controlled in parallel by the condition responsible for the metabolic change. Rather, some observations support the view that the gaseous component of metabolic rate, probably CO2, may provide the link between the metabolic level and VE.

Insect acid-base physiology

Acid-base status influences many aspects of insect biology, including insect distributions in aquatic systems, insect-plant and insect-pathogen interactions, membrane transport phenomena, and the mode of action of pesticides. Acid-base status in the hemolymph and gut lumen of insects is generally well regulated but varies somewhat within individuals owing to effects of temperature, activity, discontinuous ventilation, and diet. The pH of the midgut lumen varies with the phylogeny and feeding ecology. Insect fluids have buffer values similar to those of vertebrates. The respiratory system participates in acid-base homeostasis primarily by regulating the internal carbon dioxide (partial) pressure via changes in spiracular opening and convective ventilation. The epithelia of the renal system and gut participate in hemolymph acid-base regulation by varying acid-base transport in response to organismal acid-base status. Evidence to date suggests that the dominant mechanisms for control of renal acid-base excretion involve hormonal regulation of H+-V-ATPase activity.

Ventilatory responses to changes in temperature in mammals and other vertebrates

This article reviews the relationship between pulmonary ventilation (VE) and metabolic rate (oxygen consumption) during changes in ambient temperature. The main focus is on mammals, although for comparative purposes the VE responses of ectothermic vertebrates are also discussed. First, the effects of temperature on pulmonary mechanics, chemoreceptors, and airway receptors are summarized. Then we review the main VE responses to cold and warm stimuli and their interaction with exercise, hypoxia, or hypercapnia. In these cases, mammals attempt to maintain both oxygenation and body temperature, although conflicts can arise because of the respiratory heat loss associated with the increase in ventilation. Finally, we consider the VE responses of mammals when body temperature changes, as during torpor, fever, sleep, and hypothermia. In ectotherms, during changes in temperature, VE control becomes part of a general strategy to maintain constant relative alkalinity and ensure a constancy of pH-dependent protein functions (alphastat regulation). In mammals on the other hand, VE control is aimed to balance metabolic needs with homeothermy. Therefore, alphastat regulation in mammals seems to have a low priority, and it may be adopted only in exceptional cases.

Factors influencing acid-base status during acute severe hypothermia in unanesthetized rats

Blood acid-base changes were studied during acute hypothermia (4-6 h) induced by cold exposure in the unanesthetized rat. Stewart's quantitative analysis was applied as a complementary approach to determine the relative contributions of several non-respiratory components to the arterial acid-base response. Acute decrease in body temperature (TB) lowered PaCO2 (32.5 to 14.5 mmHg) and [HCO3-]a(24.20 mEq/L to 17.56 mEq/L), increased pHa (7.481 to 7.608) and diminished the [OH-]/[H+] ratio, but had no significant effect on [SID] or [Atot], although both total phosphorus [PT] and inorganic phosphate [Pi] increased. The acid-base changes found were intermediate between those predicted by alpha-stat and pH-stat hypotheses. Deviation from the regulative alpha-imidazole strategy was more apparent in the plasma than in the intraerythrocyte compartment. We conclude that blood pH changes observed were mainly caused by increased relative ventilation (lung ventilation per unit of CO2 removed) and by resulting changes in PCO2, with a minor metabolic component but without significant contribution from ionic shifts or changes in plasma protein concentration.

Oxygen consumption and acid-base balance during shallow hypothermia in the pigeon

In pigeons, during shallow nocturnal hypothermia induced by food deprivation, body temperature falls to values between 35 degrees C and 38 degrees C. Body temperature, oxygen consumption, and arterial blood pH and PCO2 were recorded during the entrance into such nocturnal hypothermic periods. In vivo pH was kept constant, while in vivo PCO2 increased slightly during hypothermia. This caused the temperature-corrected value of pH (pH*, measured at 40 degrees C) to fall by -0.014 units/degrees C, and the total CO2-content to rise by 3.2 mM, an increase of 16%. These changes in the acid-base balance represent, in effect, a respiratory acidosis that closely parallels the normal buffer line for pigeons. Q10 values, relating oxygen uptake to body temperature, were higher than 4.0 at the very beginning of the entrance into hypothermia, indicating that the metabolic rate was actively inhibited. However, the present results do not indicate any relationship between the acidosis and the inhibition of the metabolic rate.

Acid-base state and intermittent breathing in the torpid bat, Eptesicus fuscus

The effects of intermittent breathing on acid-base state and blood gases were characterized in the torpid bat, Eptesicus fuscus, during steady-state torpor between body temperatures (Tb) of 5 and 37 degrees C. Arterial blood samples were taken from indwelling catheters without disturbing the torpid state. Arterial pH (pHa) of samples taken without knowledge of ventilatory state rose by 0.15 units from 37 to 5 degrees C with a delta pHa/delta Tb slope over this range of -0.0055 U/degrees C. However, at and below Tb = 20 degrees C, Eptesicus fuscus breathes intermittently with typical apneic periods of 40-150 min and 4-12 min at 10 and 20 degrees C, respectively. Samples taken at the end of a ventilatory bout and near the end of an apneic period at Tb = 20 degrees C revealed cyclic changes in pH (from 7.49 +/- 0.02 to 7.34 +/- 0.01), PO2 (from 96.6 +/- 3.4 to 30.8 +/- 3.9 Torr), and PCO2 (28.2 +/- 1.4 to 45.9 +/- 1.5 Torr). Between 10 and 37 degrees C, end-ventilatory pHa varied inversely with temperature with a delta pHa/delta T slope of -0.011 U/degrees C. Because intermittent breathing is common to many animals during hibernation, these results demonstrate the importance of coordinating blood sampling with ventilatory state for a reliable interpretation of acid-base regulation under these conditions.

Intracellular pH during daily torpor in Peromyscus maniculatus

Intracellular and extracellular acid-base parameters during normothermy and daily torpor were examined in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). [14C]Dimethyloxazolidinedione and [3H]inulin were used to assess intracellular pH in liver, heart, skeletal muscle, and brain. Buffering capacities were determined using tissue homogenates. A significant increase in plasma PCO2 and CCO2 during daily torpor indicates a respiratory acidosis. All tissues experienced a reduction in the calculated dissociation ratio of histidine imidazole groups (alpha imid) during daily torpor (16.5% for brain, approximately 10% for other tissues). Based on comparisons with physicochemical tissue buffering capacities, metabolic compensation of the respiratory acidosis occurred in liver, heart, and plasma, while brain was more acidotic than predicted. The more extensive change in brain alpha imid might influence a regulated decrease in body temperature. Comparison of acid-base parameters during daily torpor and hibernation suggests that the magnitude of acid-base modifications in mammals may be associated with the level of dormancy.

Time-course of blood acid-base state during arousal from hibernation in the European hamster

1. Arterial blood was sampled at 15 min-intervals in European hamsters Cricetus cricetus fitted with indwelling catheters, from deep hibernation to full arousal. Temperature-corrected pH and PCO2, respectively pH* and P*CO2, were directly measured at 37 degrees C. 2. Deep hibernation corresponded to a respiratory acidosis: pH* = 7.01 +/- 0.01 (mean +/- SE), P*CO2 = 160 +/- 4 Torr (n = 9 animals). 3. Three periods could be distinguished in the arousal: (i) a period of hyperventilation (28 +/- 5 min), in which P*CO2 was reduced to 79 +/- 4 Torr, while cheek pouch temperature increased only by 0.9 +/- 0.2 degrees C; (ii) a period of metabolic acidification by lactate accumulation (84 +/- 6 min), corresponding to the period of peak thermogenesis; (iii) a progressive return to euthermic conditions (104 +/- 10 min), by simultaneous respiratory and metabolic alkalinization. 4. Over 60% of the blood CO2 stores accumulated at the beginning of the hibernation bout were released by hyperventilation during the first period, prior to the full development of thermogenesis. This is in agreement with the hypothesis of an inhibitory role of the respiratory acidosis in hibernation.

Oxygen binding functions of blood and hemoglobin from the Chinese pangolin, Manis pentadactyla: possible implications of burrowing and low body temperature

We measured O2 equilibria of adult blood and of 'stripped' (cofactor-free) hemolysates from adult and newborn Manis pentadactyla, in order to assess the implications of the burrowing habit and the low deep-core temperature in pangolins, and to discern the mechanisms for maternal-fetal O2 transfer. At pH 7.4 and body temperature (33 degrees C) the blood O2 affinity was significantly higher than in similarly sized non-burrowing, 'normothermic' mammals (P50 = 21 and 33 mm Hg, respectively) indicating an adaptation to hypoxic burrow conditions. This difference is not attributable to a higher intrinsic O2 affinity in the pangolin Hb or to significant differences in its sensitivity to temperature and erythrocytic 2,3 diphosphoglycerate (DPG), but tallies with lower DPG/Hb ratios than generally found in mammals. Stripped adult and newborn hemolysates show similar O2 affinities and pH and DPG sensitivities, but reveal a specific adult Hb that develops after birth, in sharp contrast with the ontogenetic changes in other mammals where specific fetal Hbs are lost after birth.

Intracellular pH in hibernation and respiratory acidosis in the European hamster

Intracellular pH was determined (DMO method) in European hamsters, in the spontaneously-occurring respiratory acidosis of hibernation, in hypercapnia due to breathing 12% CO2 in air in euthermy in spring, and in euthermicnormocapnic controls. From euthermy to hibernation, the temperature coefficient of pH was lowest in blood plasma and brain, intermediate in striated muscles (thigh muscles and diaphragm), and highest in heart and liver (Fig. 1). Correspondingly, the estimated dissociation ratio of the protein imidazole buffer groups, alpha Im, decreased markedly in plasma and brain, denoting an acid titration, but varied little in liver and heart. Striated muscles were intermediate (Fig. 2). Like in other mammals, intracellular responses to short-term euthermic respiratory acidosis were characterized by a partial metabolic compensation in the brain and a small metabolic acidification in striated muscles. In hibernation, a powerful metabolic compensation took place in liver and heart, nearly restoring alpha Im, but none occurred in brain (Figs. 3 to 5). The existence of an intracellular acidosis in brain and striated muscles during hibernation is in keeping with an inhibitory role of acidosis, whereas the homeostasis of intracellular alpha Im in liver and heart would subserve the eurythermal functioning of metabolic regulations in these organs, like in most organs of ectotherms.