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Principles of Gas Exchange

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Mohammad Jaradat
Mohammad
jaradat

AyssarTashtush
Ayssar Tashtush
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Physical principles of gas exchange

❖ Gas Mixture- Partial Pressures
Total Pressure in atmospheric air = 760mmHg, but the air is a mixture of gases like: N2, O2, CO2,
H2O.

Each gas in the mixture contributes to the total pressure in

proportion to its concentration, so the higher the gas
concentration, the higher the partial pressure it has.
✓ The concentration of N2 is 79%, so the Partial
pressure equals = 760 * 0.79 = 600mmHg.
✓ Oxygen partial pressure equals = 21% of 760 mmHg =
160 mmHg

The individual pressure exerted independently by a

particular gas within a mixture of gases is known as its
partial pressure
The summation of partial pressure in a mixture of
individual gases = total pressure of the mixture

➢ Alveolar air does not have same gas concentrations as atmospheric air composition
Differences occur because:
1. As air enters respiratory passages it becomes humidified
diluting the inspired gases partial pressures. And it will add
H2O to the mixture.
2. Alveolar air is partially replaced by atmospheric air during
each breath.
3. Oxygen constantly absorbed into blood from alveoli.
4. Carbon dioxide diffused into alveoli from blood and in the alveoli its concentration higher than the
atmospheric air.
✓ Gases move down partial pressure gradients
✓ Partial pressure gradient: difference in partial pressure between the capillary blood and the
surrounding structures
1. Between the capillary blood and alveolar air
2. Between the systemic capillary blood and the surrounding tissues
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❖ Gas Diffusion
Diffusion: the random motion of molecules in all directions through the respiratory membrane and adjacent fluids.
* For diffusion to occur these factors must be done:
1. A source of energy is provided by the kinetic motion of the
molecules. (one molecule move slowly linear way and find
another molecule of gas in its way and hit it, this hitting in
physics change the direction of movement and give it energy
to move faster then to hit another molecule and again and
again.)
2. A constant temperature (our body temperature, theoratically we don’t want the gases temperature to
go to zero because at that temperature gases don’t move.)
**Net Diffusion of a Gas in One Direction (which means in any chamber or tube like the photo, the gases
molecules move both ways but net diffusion will be to one way from higher pressure to lower pressure like
in the photo above).

➢ Alveolar Air is Slowly Renewed by Atmospheric Air

✓ Multiple breaths are required to exchange most of the alveolar air
✓ The slow replacement of alveolar air is particularly important in preventing sudden changes in gas
concentrations in the blood.

Functional residual capacity(FRC) in lungs equals = 2200ml (old gases) and during each breath
you will refresh it with 3500ml (Inspiration capacity).
we pointed out that the average male functional
residual capacity of the lungs (the volume of air
remaining in the lungs at the end of normal expiration)
measures about 2200 milliliters. Yet only 500 milli-
liters of new air is brought into the alveoli with each
normal inspiration, and this same amount of old
alveolar air is expired. Therefore, the volume of
alveolar air replaced by new atmospheric air with each
breath is only one seventh of the total, so multiple
breaths are required to exchange most of the alveolar
air. Figure 40-2 shows this slow rate of renewal of the alveolar air. In the first alveolus of the
figure, excess gas is present in the alveoli but note that even at the end of 16 breaths the excess
gas still has not been completely removed from the alveoli.

❖ Diffusion Rate
✓ Transfer of gases across the alveolar-capillary membrane occurs by passive diffusion
✓ Diffusion is governed by Fick’s law
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✓ Fick's Law essentially states that the rate of diffusion of a gas across a permeable membrane is
determined by the chemical nature of the membrane itself, the surface area of the membrane, the
partial pressure gradient of the gas across the membrane, and the thickness of the membrane.

✓ Factors determine how rapidly the gas will pass through the membrane:
1. Thickness of membrane 3. Diffusion coefficient
2. Surface area of membrane 4. Partial pressure gradient

➢ Respiratory membrane
1. A layer of fluid containing surfactant that lines the
alveolus and reduces the surface tension of the alveolar
fluid.
2. The alveolar epithelium, which is composed of thin
epithelial cells.
3. An alveolar basement membrane.
4. A thin interstitial space between the alveolar epithelium
and the capillary membrane.
5. A capillary basement membrane that in many places fuses
with the alveolar epithelial basement membrane.
6. The capillary endothelial membrane.
** O2 should pass all of these to reach RBCs.

➢ Despite the large number of layers, the overall thickness of the respiratory membrane in some
areas is as little as 0.2 micrometer and averages about 0.6 micrometer, except where there are
cell nuclei
✓ The average diameter of the pulmonary capillaries is only about 5 micrometers, which
means that red blood cells must squeeze through them.
✓ The red blood cell membrane usually touches the capillary wall, so O2 and CO2 need not
pass through significant amounts of plasma as they diffuse between the alveolus and the
red blood cell.
✓ This increases the rapidity of diffusion.

❖ Diffusion Rate
1. The thickness of the membrane:
✓ Inversely proportional to the rate of diffusion
✓ If fluid in the interstitial or alveoli is increased due to pulmonary edema or some sort of
bacteria that increases the permeability of the capillary membrane.
✓ fibrotic lung disease increases the thickness in some portions.
✓ The thickness may increase up to 3-6mm
✓ The rate of diffusion decreased.

2. The surface area of the membrane:

✓ Proportional to the rate of diffusion.
✓ In Emphysema the wall of the alveoli is coalesce dissolution, so you have one big alveoli
but the surface area is less.
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✓ In smokers or cancer patients or even genetic abnormalities the neutrophils produce an

elastase that degrades the alveoli wall.
✓ So decreased total surface area leads to impairment of gas exchange.

3. Diffusion coefficient:
✓ Inversely proportional to gas molecular weight
✓ Example (Theory):
• If the molecular weight of the gas is higher, the density is higher, and the rate of
diffusion is less (in carbon dioxide)
• Because O2 has a lower molecular weight than CO2, it could be expected to diffuse
across the respiratory membrane about 1.2 times faster
✓ Gas solubility in the membrane:
• CO2 diffuses more rapidly than O2. (CO2 because of the higher solubility from it’s
strong bond between c-o).
• O2 diffuses more rapidly than N2

➢ HENRY'S LAW: The amount of gases to dissolve in a liquid depends on:

✓ Solubility:
• Gas must be soluble in liquid to diffuse through the liquid
• CO2 is 20 times more soluble than O2 in water
• CO2 diffuses 20 times more rapidly than O2
• The difference in PCO2 between the two sides of the alveolar-capillary membrane
is 10 times smaller than that for PO2
✓ Temperature: as the temperature of liquid rises, solubility decreases
4. Partial pressure gradient:
✓ Is the difference in the partial pressure of the gas
in the alveoli and the partial pressure of the gas in
the pulmonary capillary blood.

✓ A measure of the total number of molecules of a

particular gas striking a unit area of the alveolar
surface of the membrane in unit time.

❖ Gas Exchange
Rate of net diffusion is determined by the difference of partial
pressures:
✓ If partial pressure of gas in alveoli > blood, then gas moves into
blood (oxygen)
✓ If partial pressure of gas in blood > alveoli, then gas moves into
alveoli (carbon dioxide)
** YOU SHOULD MEMORISE THE PARTIAL PRESSURE FOR CO2 AND
O2 IN THE PICTURE AT RIGHT AND IN THIS TABLE, DON’T CARE
ABOUT OTHER GASES.
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1. Alveolar PO2 is high , alveolar PCO2 is low a portion of the alveolar air is
exchanged for fresh atmospheric air with each breath
2. Systemic venous blood entering the lungs is relatively low in O2 and
high in CO2
Give up O2 and pick up CO2 at the systemic capillary level

After leaving the lungs:

✓ The blood has a PO2 of 100 mm Hg and a PCO2 of 40 mm Hg, is returned to

the heart and then pumped out to the body tissues.

1. PO2 is relatively low, and PCO2 is high in tissue cells

2. Passive movement of O2 out of the blood into cells to support their metabolic
requirements
3. CO2 moves into the blood

❖ Diffusion Capacity of the Respiratory Membrane

The volume of a gas will diffuse through the membrane each minute for a partial pressure difference of 1 mm
Hg.

➢ Oxygen:
✓ In the average young man, the diffusing capacity for O2 under resting conditions averages 21
ml/min/mm Hg.
✓ The mean O2 pressure difference across the respiratory membrane during normal, quiet
breathing is about 11 mm Hg.
✓ (11*21) = A total of about 230 milliliters of oxygen diffusing through the respiratory membrane each
minute, which is equal to the rate at which the resting body uses O2.
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➢ Increased Oxygen Diffusing Capacity during Exercise:

✓ During strenuous exercise or other conditions that greatly increase pulmonary blood flow and alveolar
ventilation, the diffusing capacity for O2 increases in young men to a maximum of about 65 ml/min/mm
Hg, which is three times the diffusing capacity under resting conditions.
✓ 715ml (More than three folds than normal)
✓ The pulmonary blood flow increased, the ventilation increased, so the oxygen diffusing capacity will
increase this was established by:
1. Reopening of dormant pulmonary capillary
2. Dilating of pre existing pulmonary capillary
3. Matching the V/Q ratio.
➢ Diffusing Capacity for Carbon Dioxide:
✓ The diffusing capacity for CO2 has never been measured because CO2
diffuses through the respiratory membrane so rapidly that the average
PCO2 in the pulmonary blood is not far different from the PCO2 in the
alveoli the average difference is less than 1 mm Hg.
✓ Because the diffusion coefficient of CO2 is slightly more than O2, one
would expect a diffusing capacity for CO2 under resting conditions of
about 400 to 450 ml/min/mm Hg and during exercise of about 1200 to
1300 ml/min/mm H.