Effects of gas composition and pH on kinetics of lung angiotensin-converting enzyme

Given the pH dependence of enzymes in general and the potential importance of a blood and alveolar gas composition dependency on the interpretation of changes in the hydrolysis of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) substrates by pulmonary endothelial ACE, we examined the influence of Pco2 and Po2 on the hydrolysis of a synthetic ACE substrate (benzoyl-phenylalanyl-alanyl-proline, BPAP) on passage through isolated rabbit lungs. Perfusate pH values of about 7.1, 7.4, and 7.9 were obtained by ventilating the lungs with gas containing different CO2 concentrations and Po2 values of approximately 110 and approximately 10 Torr were obtained by varying the concentration of O2 in the ventilating gas mixture. In the range studied neither acidosis nor alkalosis produced any significant changes in BPAP hydrolysis or in the kinetic parameters, Vmax and Km, for the hydrolysis process. On the other hand, a reduction in BPAP hydrolysis was detected when the Po2 was reduced from 110 to 10 Torr. The Vmax for BPAP hydrolysis by the lung was inversely correlated with the magnitude of the hypoxic vasoconstriction that occurred, suggesting that the reduced BPAP hydrolysis with hypoxia was due to the loss of perfused surface area due to the vasoconstriction. The results suggest that correlations between Pco2 and/or pH and whole-lung ACE activity that might occur in diseased lungs do not imply causalty. The hemodynamic consequences of changing Po2 (i.e., hypoxic vasoconstriction) may alter whole-organ ACE activity in the sense of changing the perfused surface area (i.e., the amount of ACE in contact with flowing perfusate).