Transport Of Carbon

Dioxide in the Blood

By Dr Yasir Ishaq

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 Carbon Dioxide Transport
Method Percentage
• Dissolved in Plasma 7%

• Chemically Bound to
Hemoglobin in RBC’s 23 %

• As Bicarbonate Ion in
Plasma 70 %

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Carbon Dioxide

Dissolved
bound to Hb
HCO3-

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Transport of Carbon Dioxide in
the Dissolved State
• Under normal resting conditions, an
average of 4 milliliters of CO2 are
transported from the tissues to the lungs in
each 100 milliliters of blood

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Transport of Carbon Dioxide in
the Plasma
• PCO2 of venous blood 45 mm Hg
• PCO2 of arterial blood 40 mm Hg.
• The amount of CO2 dissolved in plasma at
45 mm Hg is about 2.7 ml/dl (2.7 volumes
percent).

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Transport of Carbon Dioxide in
the Plasma
• The amount dissolved at 40 mm Hg is about
2.4 milliliters
• a difference of 0.3 milliliter.
• Therefore, only about 0.3 milliliter of CO2
is transported in the dissolved form by each
100 milliliters of blood flow

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Carbaminohemoglobin Formation

• Carbon dioxide molecule reversibly attaches to

an amino portion of hemoglobin.

CO2 + Hb HbCO2

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 Carbonic Acid Formation
• The carbonic anhydrase stimulates water
to combine quickly with carbon dioxide.

CO2 + H2 0 H2 CO3

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 Bicarbonate Ion Formation

• Carbonic acid breaks down to release a

hydrogen ion and bicarbonate.

H2 CO3 H+ + HCO-3

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CO2 Transport and Cl- Movement

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Fate of Hydrogen Ions.

H+ is buffered inside the RBCs by

deoxyhemoglobin. Because
deoxyhemoglobin is a better buffer for H+
than is oxyhemoglobin, it is advantageous
that hemoglobin has been deoxygenated by
the time blood reaches the venous end of
the capillaries (i.e., the site where CO2 is
being added).
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Fate of Bicarbonate Ion

In the lungs, all of the above reactions occur

in reverse. HCO3 - enters the RBCs in
exchange for Cl- . HCO3 - recombines with
H+ to form H2CO3, which decomposes into
CO2 and H2O. Thus, CO2, originally
generated in the tissues, is expired.

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The Bohr effect

• an increase in CO2 in the blood causes O2

to be displaced from the hemoglobin
Haldane effect
• binding of O2 with hemoglobin tends to
displace CO2 from the blood.

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Mechanism of Haldane effect
Combination of oxygen with hemoglobin in the
lungs cause the hemoglobin to becomes a
stronger acid. Therefore:
1) The more highly acidic hemoglobin has less
tendency to combine with CO2 to form CO2
Hb
2) The increased acidity of the hemoglobin also
causes it to release an excess of hydrogen ions
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THANK YOU

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