Breathing and Exchange of

Gases
Introduction
- Organisms utilize O2 to indirectly break down glucose, amino acids, fatty acids etc to derive energy to
perform various cellular functions
- CO2 which is harmful is released during the above catabolic process. So to keep the cells alive, O2
needs to be continuously supplied and the CO2 produced needs to be removed from the body
- This process of exchange of O2 from the atmosphere with CO2 produced by the cells is called
breathing, commonly known as respiration

Respiratory Organ
- Mechanism of breathing different between different groups of animals
- Lower invertebrates like sponges, coelenterates, flatworms, etc., exchange O2 with CO2 by simple
diffusion over their entire body surface. In these organisms, every cell in the body is close enough to the
external environment that can diffuse quickly between any cell and environment
- Earthworms use their moist cuticle and insects have network of tubes (tracheal tubes) to transport
atmospheric air within the body
 - Special vascularized structures called Gills (Branchial respiration) are used by most aquatic
arthropods and molluscs
- Vascularized bags called lungs (Pulmonary respiration) are used by terrestrial organisms for gaseous
exchange
- In vertebrates, fishes use gills, whereas, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals respire using lungs
- Amphibians like frogs can respire through moist skin (Cutaneous respiration). Amphibians rely
heavily on diffusion across body surface, the skin for gaseous exchange; lungs if present is small
Human respiratory system
- A pair of nostrils open above upper lips leads to nasal chamber through nasal passage
- Nasal chamber opens into the pharynx (common passage way for food and air)
- Pharynx opens into the trachea through larynx region
- Larynx is a cartilaginous box which helps in sound production and hence called the sound box
- During swallowing glottis can be covered by thin elastic cartilaginous flap epiglottis in order to
prevent entry of food into trachea
 - Trachea is a straight tube extending up to the mid-thoracic cavity, which divides at the level of
5th thoracic vertebra into a right and left primary bronchi

- Each bronchus undergoes repeated divisions to form the secondary and tertiary bronchi and bronchioles
(“little bronchi”)(less than 1 mm in diameter) ending up in very thin terminal bronchioles

- The tracheae, primary, secondary and tertiary bronchi, and initial bronchioles are supported by 15 to 20
“C” shaped incomplete cartilaginous rings to provide structural rigidity

- Each terminal bronchiole gives rise to a number of very thin, irregular-walled and vascularised bag-
like structures called alveoli

- Branching network of bronchi, bronchioles and alveoli comprise the lungs

- Each lung is covered by a double layered, closed sac called pleura. The surface cells of the pleura secrete
a fluid called intra pleural fluid (approx.15mL) which is present within the pleura

- Pleural fluid reduces the friction. The side of the pleural sac attached to the lung tissue is called the
visceral pleura; the side attached to the chest wall is called the parietal pleura
Two zones of respiratory tract

a) Conducting Zone

- Conducting zone starts with external nostrils upto the terminal bronchioles constitute the conducting
zone
- Conducting zone transports atmospheric air to alveoli, clears it from foreign particles, humidifies air
and also brings the air to the body temperature
b) Respiratory or exchange zone
- Respiratory zone starts from respiratory bronchioles, terminate into alveolar ducts which lead to
alveoli (the primary structure where gaseous exchange takes place)
- Exchange part is the site of actual diffusion of O2 and CO2 between blood and atmospheric air

- Lungs are situated in the thoracic cavity which is an air-tight chamber

- Thoracic chamber formed dorsally by vertebral column, ventrally by sternum, laterally by the ribs
and on the lower side by the dome shaped Diaphragm
 - This type of anatomical setup of lungs in thorax is such that any change in the volume of the thoracic
cavity will be reflected in the lung (pulmonary) cavity

- As we cannot directly alter the pulmonary volume, such an

arrangement is necessary
Respiration involves the following steps
1) Breathing or pulmonary ventilation – Atmospheric air is drawn in and CO 2 rich alveolar air is
released out
2) Diffusion of gases (O2 and CO2) across alveolar membrane

3) Transport of dissolved O2 and CO2 by the blood

4) Diffusion of O2 and CO2 between blood and tissues
5) Utilisation of O2 by the cells for catabolic reactions and resultant release of CO 2
Mechanism of Breathing
- Breathing involves two stages Inspiration and Expiration
- During inspiration atmospheric air is drawn in and during expiration alveolar air is released out
- Movement of air into and out of the lungs is carried out by creating a pressure gradient between the
lungs and the atmosphere

- Inspiration can occur, if the pressure within the lungs (intra-pulmonary pressure) is less than the
atmospheric pressure, i.e., there is a negative pressure in the lungs with respect to atmospheric pressure
- Expiration takes place when the intra-pulmonary pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure

- Diaphragm and a specialised set of muscles – external and internal intercostal muscles between the
ribs, help in generation of pressure gradients

- Each breath is initiated by neurons in a respiratory control centre located in the medulla oblongata
These neurons stimulate the diaphragm and external intercostal muscles to contract, causing inhalation
- When these neurons stop producing impulses, the inspiratory muscles relax and exhalation occurs
 - Although the muscles of breathing are skeletal muscles, they are usually controlled automatically
- This control can be voluntarily overridden, however, as in hypoventilation (breath holding) or
hyperventilation

- Inspiration is initiated by contraction of diaphragm which increases the volume of thoracic chamber
in the antero-posterior axis and contraction of external intercostal muscle lifts up the rib and the sternum
causing an increase in the volume of thoracic chamber in the dorso-ventral axis

- The overall increase in the thoracic volume causes a similar increase in pulmonary volume

- An increase in pulmonary volume decreases the intra-pulmonary pressure to less than the atmospheric
pressure which forces the air from outside to move into the lungs, i.e., inspiration

- Relaxation of the diaphragm and the inter-costal muscles returns the diaphragm and sternum to their
normal positions and reduce the thoracic volume and thereby the pulmonary volume

- This leads to an increase in intra-pulmonary pressure to slightly above the atmospheric pressure causing
the expulsion of air from the lungs, i.e., expiration
 - On an average, a healthy human breathes 12-16 times/minute
- The volume of air involved in breathing movements can be estimated by using a spirometer which helps in
clinical assessment of pulmonary functions

Respiratory volumes and capacities

- Values are generally lower for females. Lung capacity is the sum of two or more lung volumes
- Tidal volume (TV) is the volume of air inspired or expired during a normal respiration approx. 500mL.

- Inspiratory reserve volume (IRV) is the volume of air a person can inspire by forcible inspiration (2500-
3000mL)
- Inspiratory capacity (IC) total volume of air a person can inspire after normal expiration (TV+IRV)
- Expiratory reserve volume (ERV) is the total volume of air a person can expire by forcible expiration
(1000 to 1100mL)
- Expiratory capacity (EC) is the total volume of air a person can expire after normal inspiration (TV+ERV)
- Residual volume (RV) is the volume of air remaining in the lungs after forcible expiration (1100 to
1200mL)
- Functional residual capacity (FRC) volume of air remain in lungs after normal expiration (ERV+RV)
 - Vital capacity (VC) maximum volume of air a person can breathe in after a forced expiration or
maximum volume of air a person can breath out after forcible inspiration (IRV, ERV, TV)

- Total lung capacity (TLC) Total volume of air accommodated in the lungs at the end of a forced
inspiration (RV, ERV, TV and IRV, VC, RV)
Exchange of gases
- Alveoli are the primary site of gaseous exchange
- Exchange takes place by simple diffusion based or pressure or concentration gradient
- Solubility of the gases as well as the thickness of the membranes involved in diffusion are important
factors that can affect the rate of diffusion
- Pressure contributed by an individual gas in a mixture of gases is called partial pressure and is
represented as pO2 for oxygen and pCO2 for carbon dioxide

- As the solubility of CO2 is 20-25 time higher than O2, the amount of CO2 that can diffuse through the
diffusion membrane is much higher compared to O2
Respiratory gas Atmospheric air

O2 159 mm Hg
CO2 03 mm Hg
 - Diffusion membrane is made up of three major layers
1) Thin squamous epithelium of alveoli (One-celled thick)
2) Endothelium of alveolar capillaries (single layer of endothelial cell) and
3) Basement substance between the above two layers
- Total thickness is less than a milli meter (0.2 μm)
- Therefore, all the factors in our body (diffusion membrane thickness, solubility of gases, partial pressure
or concentration gradient) are favourable for diffusion of O2 from alveoli to tissues and that of CO2 from
tissues into alveoli

Diffusion membrane
Transport of gases
- Blood is the medium of transport for O2 and CO2
- About 97 % of O2 is transported by RBCs present in blood and the remaining 3 % is transported in a
dissolved state in plasma
- About 20-25% of CO2 is transported by RBCs and 70% is carried as bicarbonate
- Nearly, 7% of CO2 is carried in a dissolved state through plasma

Transport of Oxygen
- Haemoglobin is a red coloured iron containing pigment present in RBCs.
- Each iron atom can bind to one molecules of O2 in a reversible manner to form Oxyhemoglobin
- So a haemoglobin molecule can bind to a maximum of four O2 molecules
- Binding of O2 to haemoglobin is primarily related to partial pressure of O2,
however, partial pressure of CO2, Hydrogen ion concentration and temperature
are other factors which can interfere in binding of O2 to haemoglobin
 - A sigmoid curve is obtained when percentage saturation of haemoglobin with O 2 is plotted against the
pO2

- Oxygen dissociation curve is highly useful in studying the effects of H + concentration and pCO2 on
binding of O2 with haemoglobin
 - In the alveoli, where there is high pO2, low pCO2, lesser H+ concentration and lower temperature, the
factors are all favourable for the formation of oxyhaemoglobin

- In the tissues, where low pO2, high pCO2, high H+ concentration and higher temperature exist, the
conditions are favourable for dissociation of oxygen from the oxyhaemoglobin

- This clearly indicates that O2 gets bound to haemoglobin in the lung surface and gets dissociated at the
tissues

- Every 100 mL of oxygenated blood can deliver around 5 mL of O2 to the tissues under normal
physiological conditions
a. Lower blood pH (or high H+ concentration) and (b) higher blood temperatures shift the
Oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve to the right, facilitating O2 unloading
Transport of Carbon dioxide
- CO2 is carried by haemoglobin as carbamino-haemoglobin (about 20-25 per cent)
- pO2 is a major factor which could affect this binding, for example, When pCO 2 is high
and pO2 is low as in the tissues, more binding of carbon dioxide to hemoglobin occurs
- When the pCO2 is low and pO2 is high as in the alveoli, dissociation of CO2 from carbamino
haemoglobin takes place, i.e., CO2 which is bound to haemoglobin from the tissues is delivered at the alveoli
- RBCs contain a very high concentration of the enzyme, carbonic anhydrase and minute
quantities of the same is present in the plasma too
 Diffusion of CO2 from blood to Alveoli

Diffusion of CO2 from tissues into blood

 - Every 100 mL of deoxygenated blood delivers approximately 4 mL of CO2 to the alveoli

Regulation of respiration
- A specialised centre present in the medulla region of the brain called respiratory rhythm centre is
primarily responsible for this regulation

- Dorsal respiratory group (DRG) consists of mostly

inspiratory neurons. When the DRG inspiratory neurons
fire, inspiration takes place
- Ventral respiratory group (VRG) consists of expiratory
neurons and these neurons stimulate
expiratory muscles (the abdominal and internal
intercostal muscles) only during active expiration
 - Another centre present in the pons region of the brain called pneumotaxic and apneustic centres
can moderate the functions of the respiratory rhythm centre
- The Pneumotaxic centre limiting the duration of inspiration whereas apneustic centre in contrast
providing an extra boost to the inspiratory drive

- A chemo sensitive area (central chemoreceptors) is situated adjacent to the rhythm which is highly
sensitive to CO2 and hydrogen ions

- Peripheral chemoreceptors located in the aorta and

carotid artery gets stimulated by a fall in blood pH
send impulses to the respiratory rhythm centre in
medulla oblongata which then stimulates increased breathing
 - Role of oxygen in the regulation of respiratory rhythm is quite insignificant

Disorders of respiratory system

1) Asthma - difficulty in breathing causing wheezing due to inflammation of bronchi and bronchioles

2) Emphysema - chronic disorder in which alveolar walls are damaged due to which respiratory
surface is decreased. One of the major causes of this is cigarette smoking
3) Occupational Respiratory Disorders (Pulmonary fibrosis) – In certain industries, those involving grinding
or stone-breaking, so much dust is produced that the defense mechanism of the body cannot
fully cope with the situation
Long exposure can give rise to inflammation leading to fibrosis (proliferation of
fibrous tissues) and thus causing serious lung damage