Abstract
The appearance of a number of reports that CO2 tensions in the alveoli may exceed those in the pulmonary artery and vein have led to several hypotheses which are intended to explain such a gradient [17, 11, 18, 8]. Much attention has been given to the proposal of Gurtner et al. that this phenomenon could be explained on the basis of a charged membrane hypothesis [11, 13]: Hydrogen ions are dissociated from serum protein molecules under the influence of the negative charge on the endothelial cell surfaces and they are attracted to the capillary wall. Bicarbonate ions are repelled from the endothelium but at a slower rate. Consequently carbonic acid concentrations are elevated and CO2 is formed in the region near the capillary wall and diffuses into the alveoli, raising alveolar \({{\text{P}}_{C{O_2}}}\).
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Effros, R.M. (1980). Intracapillary CO2 Gradients. In: Bauer, C., Gros, G., Bartels, H. (eds) Biophysics and Physiology of Carbon Dioxide. Proceedings in Life Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67572-0_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-67572-0_39
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