Comparative Aspects of Extracellular Acid-Base Balance

by Jean-Paul Truchot

Overview

Interest in comparative acid-base physiology has considerably grown during last decades even in the absence of major technical or conceptual advances. This is firstly because it has become clear that the extracellular acid-base state reflects the performance of many exchange functions at the organism level: respiration and ventilation of the gas exchange surfaces, metab­ olism, iono-and osmoregulation. Such functions are much in­ fluenced by ambient conditions, and the measurement of acid­ base parameters thus provides useful information about the organism's responses to environmental challenges. Secondly, many processes at the molecular level are now known to be pH­ sensitive, and acid-base regulation thus appears to be a major requirement for the functional integrity of cells and organisms. How extracellular acid-base balance can be maintained in a wide variety of animals living in different conditions is the sub­ ject of this book. The approach is comparative and environmental throughout. All body fluids share similar buffer properties, and common physicochemical principles apply to any acid­ base system. However, in accord with differing designs and constraints along animal evolution, varying effector organs and mechanisms are at work to maintain an appropriate acid-base state in the organism. Particular emphasis is placed on the fundamental differences between water and air breathers and on the acid-base and respiratory problems arising at the transition from an aquatic to a terrestrial life. Also the complex array of factors influencing the acid-base state in water-dwelling animals is thoroughly discussed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783642831324
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	12/15/2011
Series:	Zoophysiology , #20
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1987
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1. General Properties of Water and Body Fluids as Acid-Base Systems.- 1.1 Definition of an Acid-Base System.- 1.2 Components of Physiological Acid-Base Systems.- 1.3 Physicochemical Constraints in Acid-Base Systems.- 1.4 Dependent and Independent Variables in Physiological Acid-Base Systems.- 1.5 Titration Behavior of Acid-Base Systems.- 2. Methodological Approaches and Problems.- 2.1 Data Acquisition: The Description of the Acid-Base State.- 2.2 Interpretation of the Data: “Normal” State, Disturbances, Compensations.- 2.3 Specific Methods to be Used in Aquatic Animals.- 2.4 Some Other Specific Problems and Limitations.- 3. Extracellular Acid-Base Status and the Nature of the Respiratory Medium.- 3.1 Extracellular pH, PCO2, and [HCO-3] in Water Breathers and Air Breathers.- 3.2 Extracellular Acid-Base Balance in Bimodal Breathers.- 3.3 Extracellular Acid-Base Balance During the Transition from Water to Air Breathing.- 4. Acid-Base Balance and Respiratory Gases in the Ambient Medium.- 4.1 Natural Variations of O2 and CO2 in Ambient Media.- 4.2 Extracellular Acid-Base Balance and the Oxygenation of the Ambient Medium.- 4.3 Extracellular Acid-Base Balance as a Function of Ambient PCO2.- 4.4 Extracellular Acid-Base Balance During Combined Changes of Ambient PO2 and PCO2.- 5. Extracellular Acid-Base Balance in Aquatic Animals as a Function of the Ionic Composition and the Acid-Base Balance of the Ambient Water.- 5.1 Extracellular Acid-Base State and the Salinity of the Ambient Water.- 5.2 Extracellular Acid-Base Balance and the Concentration of Certain Ions in Freshwater.- 5.3 Extracellular Acid-Base Balance and the Acid-Base State of Ambient Water.- 5.4 Extracellular Acid-Base Disturbances in Acid Waters.- 5.5 An Overview of Ambient Factors Affecting ExtracellularAcid-Base Balance in Aquatic Animals.- 6. Extracellular Acid-Base Balance and Body Temperature.- 6.1 Temperature and the Acid-Base State of Buffer Systems in Vitro.- 6.2 Normal Extracellular pH at Variable Body Temperature in Poikilotherms.- 6.3 In Vivo Variations of the Carbonic System with Body Temperature.- 6.4 Significance of the Extracellular pH-Body Temperature Relationship: a Critical Evaluation.- 7. Comparative Physiology and Evolution of Acid-Base Regulatory Mechanisms.- 7.1 Buffering of ECF Acid and Base Loads.- 7.2 Mechanisms and Organ Systems Involved in Excretion of Acid or Base Loads.- 7.3 Comparative Physiology of Acid-Base Regulation: An Evolutionary Overview.- 8. Extracellular Acid-Base Balance in Some Specific Physiological Situations.- 8.1 Muscular Activity.- 8.2 Panting.- 8.3 Diving.- 8.4 Hibernation.- 8.5 Miscellaneous.- References.- Notes Added in Proof.- References Added in Proof.- Subject and Species Index.