To study the extracellular acid-base equilibrium in vivo, it is necessary to obtain arterial blood samples without inducing concomitant respiratory or metabolic disturbances. Respiratory artifacts have been reported when general anesthesia had to be induced to allow the tapping of blood [1—5]. Similarly, blood collected by heart puncture or fast decapitation may not accurately reflect the acid-...

The main advantage of longitudinal studies is that they can distinguish changes over time within individuals (longitudinal effects) from differences between subjects at the start of the study (base-line characteristics; cross-sectional effects). Often, especially in observational studies, subjects are very heterogeneous at base-line, and one may want to correct for this, when doing inferences f...

The acid-base status of late-term Squalus acanthias L. pups in the uterine seawater environment was examined. Blood values for pH, total CO2, partial pressure of CO2, urea and sodium concentrations in late-term pups were not significantly different from those of the mothers. Haematocrit was slightly lower, while total plasma lipid and ammonia concentrations were several times higher. The uterin...

Background Acid-base assessments in hemodialysis patients have been limited almost entirely to measurements of total CO 2 concentration, and assumptions have been made about the presence of acid-base disorders. To gain a fuller understanding of the acid-base status of stable hemodialysis patients, we analyzed measurements of pCO 2 , pH and HCO 3 - obtained in a cohort of chronic stable hemodial...

We developed mathematical models that predict equilibrium distribution of water and electrolytes (proteins and simple ions), metabolites, and other species between plasma and erythrocyte fluids (blood) and interstitial fluid. The models use physicochemical principles of electroneutrality in a fluid compartment and osmotic equilibrium between compartments and transmembrane Donnan relationships f...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES To correlate standard base excess (SBE) with serum lactate level and demonstrate the independent prognostic significance of each one. METHODS In a retrospective study, we retrieved data from 333 patients of our prospectively collected database of 7-bed medical intensive care unit of a 1800-bed university hospital. RESULTS The results have shown a poor correlation b...

In the 17th century the notion of nutrition and diet changed in northern European countries. First chemical experiments fostered the idea that salts resulted from a union of acids and bases. Digestion was no more regarded as a process of cooking but a succession of fermentations controlled by a balanced production of acids and alkali. Life seemed to depend on the equilibrium of acids and alkali...