buffer

Examples of buffer in the following topics:

• Chemical Buffer Systems

  • Chemical buffers such as bicarbonate and ammonia help keep blood pH in the narrow range compatible with life.
  • One example of a buffer solution found in nature is blood.
  • Several buffering agents that reversibly bind hydrogen ions and impede any change in pH exist.
  • Extracellular buffers include bicarbonate and ammonia, whereas proteins and phosphate act as intracellular buffers.
  • Distinguish between buffer solutions, ventilation, and renal function as buffer systems to control acid-base balance

• The Role of the Kidneys in Acid-Base Balance

  • To maintain this narrow range of pH the body has a powerful buffering system.
  • In response to acidosis, tubular cells reabsorb more bicarbonate from the tubular fluid, collecting duct cells secrete more hydrogen and generate more bicarbonate, and ammoniagenesis leads to increased formation of the NH3 buffer.

• Anion Regulation

  • Its principal function is to maintain your body's acid-base balance by being part of buffer systems.
  • Phosphate is useful in animal cells as a buffering agent, and the most common form is HPO2−4.
  • In addition, phosphate is found in phospholipids, such as those that make up the cell membrane, and in ATP, nucleotides, and buffers.

• Acidosis

  • Metabolic acidosis is compensated for in the lungs, as increased exhalation of carbon dioxide promptly shifts the buffering equation to reduce metabolic acid.
  • The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation is useful for calculating blood pH, because blood is a buffer solution.
  • The amount of metabolic acid accumulating can also be quantitated by using buffer base deviation, a derivative estimate of the metabolic as opposed to the respiratory component.
  • Compensation occurs if respiratory acidosis is present, and a chronic phase is entered with partial buffering of the acidosis through renal bicarbonate retention.

• Potassium Balance Regulation

  • The body buffers the extra potassium by equilibrating it within the cells.

• Paranasal Sinuses

  • These include: decreasing the relative weight of the front of the skull, and especially the bones of the face; increasing resonance of the voice; providing a buffer against blows to the face; insulating sensitive structures like dental roots and eyes from rapid temperature fluctuations in the nasal cavity; humidifying and heating of inhaled air because of slow air turnover in this region; regulation of intranasal and serum gas pressures; and immunological defense.

• Gastric Phase

  • Small peptides also buffer stomach acid so the pH does not fall excessively low.

• Regulation of H+ by the Lungs

  • Acid–base imbalances that overcome the buffer system can be compensated in the short term by changing the rate of ventilation.

• Alkalosis

  • Compensatory mechanisms for this would include increased dissociation of the carbonic acid buffering intermediate into hydrogen ions, and the related excretion of bicarbonate, both of which lower blood pH.

• Edema Caused by Loss of Plasma Proteins

  • Albumin transports hormones, fatty acids, and other compounds, buffers pH, and maintains osmotic pressure, among other functions.