Acid-base relationships in the blood of the toad, Bufo marinus. I. The effects of environmental CO2.

An abrupt increase in ambient CO2 resulted in a marked respiratory acidosis which took place within 30 min. During this time there was a considerable reduction in the PCO2 difference between arterial blood and inspired gas caused by an increase in ventilations. Prolonged CO2 exposure (24 h) showed that there was some compensation for the acidosis in that plasma bicarbonate concentrations increased substantially. At the same time, however, the PCO2 of arterial blood always rose so that the net result was usually only a small increase in pH. Upon return to air, the blood was backtitrated along a buffer line elevated above and parallel to that seen during the initial response to hypercapnia. The fall in arterial blood PCO2 during the early stages of recovery often led to pH values higher than those seen in the untreated animal. After 48 h in air, recovery had gone further with PCO2, pH and [HCO3-] levels approaching but rarely reaching the pre-exposure values.