28 Kasım 2011 Pazartesi

BICARBONATE BUFFER SYSTEMS IN BLOOD AND LUNGS

Blood is the most important component in human body. Blood can transfer and carry many significant components from some places to other places. Many biochemical reactions occur into the blood. If there is biochemical reaction, there should be buffer that means a system capable of resisting changes in pH, consisting of a conjugate acid-base pair in which the ratio of proton aceptor to proton donor is near unity (Lehninger, 2008, G-2).
In the human respirotary systems, mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and bicarbonate ion (HCO3) are the significant components as a buffer. Carbon dioxide (CO2) forms carbonic acid (H2CO3) when it dissolves in water and work as an acid donor hydrogen ions (H+) when it is necessary. HCO3 is a base and it accepts hydrogen ions (H+) when there are over amount of hydrogen ions (H+). Thus, pH of blood can be determined with bicarbonate and carbon dioxide. This is called as “Bicarbonate Buffer System”.
The reaction is occured as:
CO2 + H2O <---> H2CO3 <---> (H+) + HCO3
(H2CO3 is Carbonic Acid and HCO3 is Bicarbonate)
the changes are occured as:
  • If pH is too high, carbonic acid donates hydrogen ions (H+) and pH can decrease.
  • If pH is too low, bicarbonate accepts hydrogen ions (H+) and pH can increase.
Lungs are alse significant for respirotory systems. Lungs have significant roles in regulating pH of blood on breathing. In every minute of the process of breathing, lungs take in CO2 and take off CO2, so they work as bicarbonate buffering.
To sum up, blood and lungs have signifcant roles in respirotory systems and they have functions as bicarbonate buffer that is so significant for human body. Because it has many functions that can be seen under the below.
  1. It is one of the major buffering systems used to maintain the pH of mammalian blood.
  2. It is used in the formation of acid in the lumen on the stomach.
  3. It is used to neutralize the pH of the chyme leaving the stomach and entering the small intestine.
If a human have respirotory system without any problems that means these people are healty. However, if there is problem about buffering system or about lungs that means there is a serious health problem of the people.
RESOURCES
  • Blood, Sweat, and Buffers:
    pH Regulation During Exercise, Retrieved from

  • Nelson D.,Cox M., Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, 5th edition

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