COLLEGE PHYSICS

BIOLOGY 2E
Chapter
Chapter # Chapter Title
39 RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
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OBJETIVOS

1. Explicar la relación entre la superficie respiratoria y el intercambio de

gases.
2. Describir las diferencias estructurales y funcionales entre los
siguientes sistemas para intercambio gaseoso: branquias, sistema
traqueal y pulmones.
3. Definir: ventilación, inhalación, exhalación, presión parcial de gases,
presión positiva y presión negativa.
4. Explicar la importancia de la hemoglobina como pigmento
respiratorio.
GAS EXCHANGE

• All cells require oxygen for use in the efficient production of energy
through cellular respiration
• One of the major physiological challenges facing all multicellular
animals is obtaining sufficient oxygen and disposing of excess
carbon dioxide
Caption: Sea Turtle Breath Underwater © dronepicr, License
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GASES

Air is composed of about

• 21% oxygen
• 78% nitrogen
• Roughly 1% carbon dioxide and other gases

Nitrogen gas usually ignored because it is not part of

the respiratory process

The exchange of O2 and CO2 depends on the solubility

of the gas in water and the rate of diffusion of the gas

4
RESPIRATORY MEDIA

Animals can use air or water as the O2 source, or respiratory medium

In a given volume, there is less O2 available in water than in air
Obtaining O2 from water requires greater efficiency than air breathing
RESPIRATORY SURFACES

Animals require large, moist respiratory surfaces for exchange of gases

between their cells and the respiratory medium, either air or water
Gas exchange across respiratory surfaces takes place by diffusion
Respiratory surfaces vary by animal and can include the skin, gills,
tracheae, and lungs
GAS EXCHANGE

• Gases diffuse directly into unicellular organisms

• Small organisms can rely on direct diffusion of gases

• However, most multicellular animals require system
adaptations to enhance gas exchange
• Amphibians respire across their skin as well as lungs
• Insects have an extensive tracheal system
• Fish use gills
• Mammals have a large network of alveoli in lung tissue
 BODY SURFACES

Invertebrates with one or a few cell layers can use

diffusion for gas exchange

Some do not even need specialized transport

mechanisms

Some large, complex animal body surfaces may be

permeable to gases
• Amphibians are the only vertebrates to rely on their skin for
gas exchange under water

8
GAS EXCHANGE BETWEEN ALVEOLI AND
BLOOD
• In vertebrates, the gases diffuse into the aqueous layer
covering the epithelial cells that line the respiratory
organs
• Diffusion is passive, driven only by the difference in O2
and CO2 concentrations on the two sides of the
membranes and their relative solubility's in the plasma
membrane
• High O2 in Alveoli into Blood
• High CO2 in Blood into Alveoli
• Opposite Occurs in the Tissue
 TYPES OF RESPIRATORY SYSTEMS

Ventilation – the process of bringing oxygenated water

or air into contact with a gas-exchange organ

Four major types of gas-exchange organs in animals:

Body surface

Gills

Tracheae

Lungs

10
 EXTERNAL GILLS

Vary widely in appearance but all have a large surface

area with extensive projections

Limitations
• Unprotected and subject to damage
• Energy is required to wave gills back and forth
• Appearance and motion may attract predators

11
FIGURE 42.21

Coelom

Gills
Gills
Parapodium Tube foot
(functions as gill)

(a) Marine worm (b) Crayfish (c) Sea star

 INTERNAL GILLS
Fish gills covered by the operculum
Gill arches – main support structure
Filaments branch off of gill arches
Lamellae branch off of filaments
Blood vessels run the length of the filaments
• Oxygen-poor blood travels through afferent vessel
• Oxygen-rich blood travels through efferent vessel
Countercurrent exchange of water and blood flow
maximizes oxygen diffusion into blood
13
Ventilation moves the respiratory medium over the respiratory surface
Aquatic animals move through water or move water over their gills for
ventilation
GILLS

• Increase surface area for diffusion

• Move water into the mouth, through the gills, and out of the fish
through the open operculum or gill cover
 INSECT TRACHEAE
Tiny openings called spiracles on the body surface lead
to tracheae that branch into tracheoles terminating near
every body cell
Small amount of fluid for gas to diffuse into
Body muscle movements draw air in and out of tracheae
Open circulatory system is not used in gas exchange
Oxygen diffuses directly from air to tracheae to
tracheoles to body cells
Very efficient – supports insect flight muscles, with the
highest metabolic rate known
16
LUNGS

• Gills were replaced in terrestrial animals by lungs

• The lung minimizes evaporation by moving air through a
branched tubular passage
• Covered in mucus to prevent direct contact of lung tissue
with air
 LUNGS
Internal paired structures
• Receive deoxygenated blood from the heart
• Return oxygenated blood to the heart

Used by all air-breathing terrestrial vertebrates

• Except lungless salamanders

Use negative pressure filling

• Boyle’s Law – pressure and volume inversely related

• Expanding and compressing lungs creates pressure gradients to

move the air
18
LUNGS

• Lungs of birds have unidirectional flow

• Watch this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWMmyVu1ueY

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 MAMMALIAN RESPIRATORY ORGANS

Nose and mouth

• Air is warmed and humidified
• Mucus and hairs in the nose cleans the air of dust
Pharynx – common passageway for air & food
Larynx
• Vocal cords

Trachea – tube that leads to the lungs

Lungs

20
LUNGS
LUNGS
• Lungs of mammals are packed
with millions of alveoli (sites of
gas exchange)
• Inhaled air passes through the
larynx, glottis, and trachea
• Bifurcates into the right and
left bronchi, which enter each
lung and further subdivide into
bronchioles
• Alveoli are surrounded by an
extensive capillary network
LUNGS
 LUNG STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

• During inhalation, thoracic volume increases through contraction

of two muscle sets
• Contraction of the external intercostal muscles expands the rib cage
• Contraction of the diaphragm expands the volume of thorax and lungs
• Produces negative pressure which draws air into the lungs
Caption: Diagram showing lining of the lungs (c) Cancer Research UK, Public Domain
 NEGATIVE PRESSURE FILLING
• Inhalation – intercostals contract to move chest wall up and out,
diaphragm contracts and drops down – enlarging thoracic cavity
• Exhalation – intercostals and diaphragm relax – compressing
thoracic cavity

25
Access the text alternative for slide images.

b: ©Pr. M. Brauner/Science Source 26

FIGURE 42.28

NORMAL BLOOD pH
(about 7.4)
Blood CO2 level falls
and pH rises.
Blood pH falls
due to rising levels of
CO2 in tissues (such as
Medulla detects when exercising).
decrease in pH of
cerebrospinal fluid.

Cerebrospinal
fluid Carotid
arteries
Aorta
Signals from Sensors in major
medulla to rib blood vessels
muscles and detect decrease
diaphragm in blood pH.
Medulla
increase rate oblongata Medulla receives
and depth of signals from major
ventilation.
blood vessels.
 Exhaled air Inhaled air
Alveolar
Alveolar spaces
epithelial CO2 O2
cells Alveolar
capillaries

Pulmonary Pulmonary
arteries veins

Systemic Systemic
veins arteries
Heart

Systemic
CO2 O2 capillaries

Body tissue
HEMOGLOBIN

• Consists of four polypeptide chains: two a and two b

• Each chain is associated with a heme group
• Each heme group has a central iron atom that can bind a molecule of O 2
• Hemoglobin loads up with oxygen in the lungs, forming
oxyhemoglobin
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 RESPIRATORY PIGMENTS

Hemoglobin – iron
• 4 protein subunits
• Each has a heme unit – contains iron
• Single hemoglobin molecule binds up to 4 oxygen molecules

Hemocyanin – copper (crustaceans, arachnids)

All have a high affinity for oxygen

Binding of oxygen is noncovalent and reversible

30
HEMOGLOBIN

• Hemoglobin’s affinity for O2 is affected by pH and

temperature
• The pH effect is known as the Bohr shift
• Increased CO2 in blood increases H+
• Lower pH reduces hemoglobin’s affinity for O2
• Facilitates oxygen unloading in the tissue
• If there is high levels of CO2, that means that oxygen is needed –
the hemoglobin lets go of the oxygen
• Increasing temperature has a similar effect
32
HEMOGLOBIN

The oxygen dissociation curve demonstrates that, as the partial

pressure of oxygen increases, more oxygen binds hemoglobin.
However, the affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen may shift to the left
or the right depending on environmental conditions.

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CO2 produced during cellular respiration lowers blood pH and decreases
the affinity of hemoglobin for O2; this is called the Bohr shift
Hemoglobin plays a minor role in transport of CO2 and assists in buffering
the blood
TRANSPORTATION OF CARBON DIOXIDE

• Not the same as oxygen

• About 8% of the CO2 in blood is dissolved in plasma
• 20% of the CO2 in blood is bound to hemoglobin
• Remaining 72% diffuses into red blood cells and becomes
bicarbonate
CARBON DIOXIDE TRANSPORT

Some CO2 from respiring cells diffuses into the blood and is
transported in blood plasma, bound to hemoglobin
The remainder diffuses into erythrocytes and reacts with water to
form H2CO3, which dissociates into H+ and bicarbonate ions
(HCO3−)
In the lungs the relative partial pressures of CO2 favor the net
diffusion of CO2 out of the blood
LUNG FUNCTION

Hypoventilation
Insufficient breathing
Blood has abnormally high PCO2
Hyperventilation
Excessive breathing
Blood has abnormally low PCO2
Brain isn’t signaled to initiate
breath, person feels like they can’t
breathe, start trying to take many
shallow breaths (like they can’t
catch their breath), breathing
paper bag adds CO2 to system
triggering brain to initiate deep
breath

• Neurons are sensitive to blood PCO2 changes

• A rise in PCO2 causes increased production of carbonic acid (H2CO3),
lowering the blood pH
• Stimulates chemosensitive neurons in the aortic and carotid bodies
• Send impulses to respiratory control center to increase rate of
breathing
• Brain also contains central chemoreceptors that are sensitive to
changes in the pH of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
RESPIRATORY DISEASES
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Refers to any disorder that obstructs airflow on a long-term
basis
• Asthma
• Allergen triggers the release of histamine, causing intense
constriction of the bronchi and sometimes suffocation
• Emphysema
• Alveolar walls break down and the lung exhibits larger but fewer
alveoli
• Lungs become less elastic
• Eighty to 90% of emphysema deaths are caused by cigarette
smoking
 ASTHMA
Muscles around bronchioles are hyperexcitable
• They contract more than usual
May have genetic basis

39
RESPIRATORY DISEASES
• Lung cancer accounts for
more deaths than any other
form of cancer
• Caused mainly by cigarette
smoking
• Follows or accompanies
COPD
• Lung cancer metastasizes
(spreads) so rapidly that it has
usually invaded other organs
by the time it is diagnosed
• Chance of recovery from
metastasized lung cancer is
poor, with only 3% of patients
surviving for 5 years after
diagnosis
Caption: Solitary fibrous tumor of pleura © Yale Rosen, License
La presencia de CO2 en sangre disminuye la afinidad de la
hemoglobina por el oxígeno y permite el movimiento del O2
desde los ________ hacia los__________.
a. eritrocitos; tejidos
b. tejidos; eritrocitos
c. eritrocitos; alvéolos
d. alvéolos; bronquiolos
Los _____________ son pequeños sacos rodeados por gran
cantidad de capilares donde se intercambia O2 por CO2.
a. bronquiolos
b. alvéolos
c. espiráculos
d. parapodios
Una de las siguientes características es cierta con respecto a la
hemoglobina
a. está compuesta de cuatro cadenas polipeptídica
b. contienen cuatro anillos hemo
c. la hemoglobina transporta el oxígeno ligado a sus átomos de
hierro
d. todas las alternativas son correctas