Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are affected by episodes of respiratory exacerbations, some of which can be severe and may necessitate respiratory support. Prolonged invasive mechanical ventilation is associated with increased mortality rates. Persistent failure to discontinue invasive mechanical ventilation is a major issue in patients with COPD. Pure or mixed metabo...

Background. Symptoms of mountain sickness are due to hypoxia of the brain. The pathogenesis is complex, but acid-base disturbances certainly play a role. When arterial oxygen levels drop, hyperventilation is induced, resulting in a respiratory alkalosis. However, this alkalosis inhibits the hyperventilation necessary for maintaining oxygen pressure. We present a case of a patient with symptoms ...

Blood acid-base regulation by specialized epithelia, such as gills and kidney, requires the ability to sense blood acid-base status. Here, we developed primary cultures of ray (Urolophus halleri) gill cells to study mechanisms for acid-base sensing without the interference of whole animal hormonal regulation. Ray gills have abundant base-secreting cells, identified by their noticeable expressio...

Mechanical ventilation can worsen morbidity and mortality by causing ventilator-associated lung injury, especially where adverse ventilatory strategies are employed. Adverse strategies commonly involve hyperventilation, which frequently results in hypocapnia. Although hypocapnia is associated with significant lung alterations (e.g., bronchospasm, airway edema), the effects on alveolar-capillary...

Normal and nephrectomized SpragueDawley rats were treated with CoCI2 at three dose levels, 10, 20, and 25 tm/ 100 g body weight. The effects of this drug on acid-base balance were related to the production of erythropoietin. Within 6 hr after the administration of CoCI2 to normal rats, a dose-related respiratory alkalosis occurred associated with an increase in the affinity of hemoglobin for ox...

The protocol of the experiment was designed as follows. In the morning, the instrument was prepared for operation by calibration and verification with whole blood gas control samples (Quantra; Dade Division of American Hospital Supply Corp., Miami, FL 33152). An IL blood gas control, ContrIL, was analyzed for P02 before and after the determination on blood from the patient in surgery. Two level...

The aims of this study were to determine 1) whether ventilatory adaptation occurred over a 5-day exposure to a constant elevation in end-tidal PCO2 and 2) whether such an exposure altered the sensitivity of the chemoreflexes to acute hypoxia and hypercapnia. Ten healthy human subjects were studied over a period of 13 days. Their ventilation, chemoreflex sensitivities, and acid-base status were ...