Changes in pulmonary blood flow do not affect gas exchange during intermittent ventilation in resting turtles

The breathing pattern of many different air-breathing vertebrates, including lungfish, anuran amphibians, turtles, crocodiles and snakes, is characterized by brief periods of lung ventilation interspersed among apnoeas of variable duration. These intermittent ventilatory cycles are associated with characteristic increases in pulmonary blood flow and tachycardia. In animals with central vascular shunts, the rise in pulmonary blood flow during ventilation is associated with the development of left-to-right (L-R) cardiac shunt (pulmonary recirculation of oxygenated blood returning from the lungs). By contrast, a large net right-to-left (R-L) shunt (pulmonary bypass) normally prevails during apnoea. The cardio-respiratory interaction and the changes in cardiac shunting have been suggested to improve pulmonary gas exchange but the benefits of L-R shunting on pulmonary gas transport have not been studied experimentally. The present study measured pulmonary gas exchange in fully recovered, freely diving turtles, where changes in pulmonary blood flow were prevented by partial occlusion of the pulmonary artery. Prevention of L-R shunt during ventilation did not impair CO2 excretion and overall, oxygen uptake and CO2 excretion did not correlate with changes in pulmonary blood flow. We conclude that increases in pulmonary blood flow associated with ventilation are not required to maintain resting rates of oxygen uptake and CO2 excretion in resting animals.