Respiratory Physiology lecture 2

Lungless Salamander
PATHWAY OF THE RESPIRATORY GASES

CO 48
Physics of gas exchange
- the Fick equation
Air versus water as a respiratory medium
Water (fish) Air (mammal)
Gas exchanger Secondary lamella alveolus
Ventilation Unidirectional, tidal
continuous
O2 content and 0.04 - 9ml/litre 200ml/litre
pressure 1-200 mm Hg ~ 150mm Hg
% O2 utilized Up to 80% About 25%
Diffusion rate Low for O2 500,000 times
23X for CO2 higher
Density About 1000X air
density
Viscosity About 100x air

Expired CO2 0 - 13 ml/litre 110 ml/litre

content, pressure 0 - 10 mmHg 40 - 45 mmHg
O2 consumption 50 - 100 ml/kg/hr 200ml/kg/hr
(rest) (carp) (human)
FOUR VERTEBRATE GAS EXCHANGE ORGANS AND THEIR PERFORMANCE

Heinemann. Comparative Physiology of Vertebrate Respiration. Hughes, G.M.

FOUR VERTEBRATE GAS EXCHANGE ORGANS AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
open

Heinemann. Comparative Physiology of Vertebrate Respiration. Hughes, G.M.

 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Lungless salamander
(Ensatina eschscholtzii)
Cutaneous gas exchange
Bullfrog
(Rana catesbeiana)
represents an “open”
Mudpuppy
model. In vertebrates, most
(Necturus maculosus)
important in amphibians
Southern musk turtle
(Sternotherus minor)
with thin, well vascularised,
European eel moist, naked skin
(Anguilla anguilla)

Boa constrictor
(Constrictor constrictor)

Green lizard
(Lacerta viridis)
Lungless salamander
PO2 of medium (P1)
Big brown bat
(Eptesicus fuscus)

Brown trout
(Salmo trutta)
a
Human
(Homo sapiens)
O2 PO2 of blood (P2)
CO2
v
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percentage of gas exchange through the skin
a: © Ken Lucas/Visuals Unlimited
Bullfrog metamorphosis - gas exchangers are skin, skin and gills, skin and lungs!! An
model for evolution of air- breathing

WW Burggren and NH West Resp. Physiol. 47 151–164 1982

Convergent Evolution - Nudibranch mollusc with external gills

Fig. 48.4a
Axolotl salamander with external gills (neotenous)

Fig. 48.4b
FOUR VERTEBRATE GAS EXCHANGE ORGANS AND THEIR PERFORMANCE
counter current

Heinemann. Comparative Physiology of Vertebrate Respiration. Hughes, G.M.

 Double pumping mechanism in
bony and cartilaginous fish

+ and - indicate pressure gradient

across the gills and pressure relative to
surrounding water
++ +
- --

Ram ventilation
Pelagic fish like some sharks and
mackerel (and remora). Mackerel
can’t fully oxygenate their blood if
prevented from active swimming
 Animation of fish breathing cycle

• Note that mouth and opercular flap act as passive flap valves,
one open, one closed
• Floor of the mouth acts as a suction pump in phase 1 as it is
lowered and as a positive pressure pump in phase 2 as it is
raised
• The operculum acts as a suction pump in phase 1, situated
behind the curtain of secondary lamellae,and a positive
pressure pump in phase 2, expelling water from the operculum
• All inspired water passes through the gill curtain for gas
exchange
• Flow of water is unidirectional, which is energy efficient – water
is more dense and viscous than air
Functional anatomy of the teleost gill
 Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Water
Lamella
Fig.%46.5d flow
40 15%
Direction of

%
O2 movement
70
5%
%
30 Blood
0%

flow
10

0%
6
%
90

O2 content
Why countercurrent gas exchangers are so efficient - in the fish gill
PaO2 is higher than PeO2!!!!

P1-P2 is constant along the length

of the secondary lamella
PO2 of arterial blood is greater
than PO2 of expired water i
a
PO2 of
water (P1)

PO2 of e
blood
(P2) v
 Key concepts
• Fick equation - basic physics of gas exchange. Diffusion
of oxygen is driven by the pressure (“concentration”)
gradient.
• Models of vertebrate gas exchange - “open, pool,
countercurrent, crosscurrent.”
• “Open” - through the skin (cutaneous gas exchange), -
animals can increase surface area by external gills. In
vertebrates, most important in amphibian tadpoles.
• “Counter-current” - fish gills - the most efficient gas
exchange organ in terms of efficiency of transfer of gas
into blood. PaO2 (oxygen concentration in arterial blood)
is greater than PEO2. (oxygen concentration in expired
water).
• Amphibian metamorphosis represents a transition from
skin, to external gill, to internal gill, to lung as gas
exchange organ.