Slow postcapillary changes in blood pH in vivo: titration with acetazolamide

A stopped-flow pH electrode apparatus was used to investigate the mechanisms underlying slow changes in plasma pH (pHO) after blood leaves the pulmonary capillaries in carbonic anhydrase-inhibited animals. After acetazolamide was administered to an anesthetized dog or cat, arterial blood was withdrawn through the electrode apparatus into a syringe. Syringe movement was then suddenly stopped. Temperature and pHO of the blood in the electrode chamber were monitored both before and after blood withdrawal ceased. After stopping flow, pHO of the blood in the electrode chamber a) rose 0.02 after a dose of about 1 mg/kg acetazolamide; b) did not change after a dose of about 2 mg/kg acetazolamide; and c) fell 0.10 after a dose greater than about 5 mg/kg acetazolamide. With reasonable red cell and plasma carbonic anhydrase activities assumed for each dose level of acetazolamide, a computer model of the reaction and transport processes occurring in blood after gas exchange in the lung yielded predicted time courses of pHo that were in good agreement with the experimental results. The observed slow pHo changes are largely a result of disequilibrium of [H+] between red blood cells and plasma as blood leaves the pulmonary capillaries.