Acid/Base Balance in the Body

The pH of blood is under very tight control. The normal range is from 7.35 to 7.45.
Thats pretty tight. Its also just slightly basic. If the pH of blood drops from 7.35 down towards
7, its called acidosis, which obviously means too much acid. Please understand that blood
need not drop below a pH of 7 to enter acidosis. Essentially, any pH lower than 7.35 is acidosis,
because the pH is lower than it should be. The effect of acidosis is dramatic. It decreases
nervous function, leading to coma and death. The diabetic coma, for example, is from acidosis.
Blood is so sensitive to pH changes that a pH below 7 is not considered possible in a living
person.
The opposite of acidosis is, of course, alkalosis. This happens when the pH of blood
rises above 7.45. Once again, the blood is very sensitive to these changes. A blood pH above
7.8 is also not compatible with human life. Whats the effect of alkalosis? Not surprisingly, it is
the opposite of acidosis. Alkalosis causes over-excitation nervous system, which can lead to
convulsions. Of course, the ultimate result is the same, because these convulsions can end in
death.
Now please understand that we are talking about blood pH here. The pH of the cells is
considerably more acidic because of the carbon dioxide theyre always making. Typically, the
pH of intracellular fluids runs between 6.0 and 7.4. Thats okay, though, because the cells can
tolerate that range of pH. The blood, however, cannot.
What can cause changes in blood pH? Gastric vomiting is one cause of pH imbalance.
When you vomit, you lose a lot of stomach acid. What can this lead to? It can lead to alkalosis,
because losing acid will raise pH. Diarrhea also causes pH changes in the blood. In diarrhea,
we lose bicarbonate from the intestine. Since bicarbonate is a basic substance, this leads to
acidosis. Intestinal vomiting is another way that we lose base, because we lose bile. Thus, this
leads to acidosis as well. Since our kidneys can control the amount of H+ in the blood, kidney
dysfunction can also change the pH of blood. This can cause the pH to rise or drop, depending
on the diet. If the diet is high in acid, it will lead to acidosis because the kidney is not getting rid
of the acid. This is true for the Western diet. Respiratory dysfunction can also lead to pH
imbalances in the blood because, as we discussed in the previous module, the respiratory system
exerts control over the pH of the blood because of its control of CO2.
There are three ways that the body controls acid-based balance. There are two quick
ways, and one slower but better way. The first way the body controls pH in the blood is through
buffer systems.
Buffer system - A mixture of an acid and a base which resists changes in pH
The second means by which the body controls blood pH is through the respiratory system. We
discussed that in detail in the previous module, so we will not add any more detail here. You
should review this material, however. The third way is via the action of the kidneys. Kidneys
secrete hydrogen ion. The more hydrogen ion they secrete, the higher blood pH becomes.

It turns out that the first method, buffer systems, is the least effective method.
Nevertheless, it is an important part of the overall blood pH regulation process. It just is not as
efficient as the other two methods. To better understand what a buffer system is, perform the
following experiment.
EXPERIMENT 15.1
The Bicarbonate Buffer
Supplies:

A few leaves of purple (some call it red) cabbage

A small pan with which to boil water
A stove
Two juice glasses
An eyedropper
Baking soda
A measuring teaspoon
A tablespoon
Distilled water (available at any supermarket)
Clear vinegar
Clear soda pop (Sprite or 7-Up, for example)

Introduction - The bicarbonate buffer is one of the buffers that helps control blood pH. This
experiment will show you how this buffer system works.
Procedure
1. This experiment will work correctly only if you avoid contamination. Thus, everything must
be clean before the experiment starts and stay clean throughout the experiment. Rinse your
hands thoroughly (this means several times) with tap water. Then rinse the juice glasses,
teaspoon, tablespoon, and pan thoroughly with tap water. Next, rinse your hands thoroughly
with distilled water and do so with the juice glasses, teaspoon, tablespoon, and pan as well.
2. Take a few leaves of cabbage and put them into the pan. Add roughly three cups of distilled
water. Dont use a measuring cup. Just estimate.
3. Allow the water to come to a boil. Let it boil for a minute or so and then turn off the heat.
4. Allow the pan to cool, and then pour about half the liquid into one juice glass, and pour the
rest into the other. If cabbage leaves get into the juice glasses, just pick them out.
5. What you have in each glass is a solution of anthocyanin, which is an acid-base indicator. It
turns blue in the presence of high pH and pink in the presence of low pH. In between, it
turns a variety of colors. Right now, it should be a light purple, which indicates a pH of
roughly 7.
6. Add half a teaspoon of baking soda to one of the glasses. You should see the color change
towards green. Thats because the bicarbonate ion in the baking soda is a base. The green
color is anthocyanins reaction to the higher pH.
7. Use the tablespoon to add one tablespoon of Sprite to the same glass that you just put the

baking soda in. Use that tablespoon to stir the solution. Continue to add Sprite one
tablespoon at a time (stirring in between) until the color of the solution roughly matches the
color of the solution in the other glass (the one you havent added anything to). This juice
glass now has a mixture of an acid (carbonic acid from the Sprite) and base (bicarbonate
from the baking soda). This is the bicarbonate buffer.
8. You now have two juice glasses, each at roughly the same pH. One has a buffer solution, the
other does not.
9. Take the eyedropper and add two drops of vinegar to the glass that does not have the buffer.
Swirl the glass to mix the vinegar in the solution. Note the color.
10. Next, take the solution of Sprite and baking soda and do the same thing. Note the color
change, if any.
11. Alternatively add two drops of vinegar to each solution, swirling in between. Compare how
quickly the bicarbonate buffer solution changes colors to how quickly the other solution
changes colors.
12. Clean everything up.
If all went well in the experiment, you should have seen that while the bicarbonate buffer
solution did not change colors very quickly, the other solution did. Why? In each case, you
were adding an acid to the solution. The bicarbonate buffer resists changes in pH. Thus, its
color did not change very rapidly, because its pH did not change very rapidly. The other
solution had no buffer in it. Thus, it changed pH rather quickly when vinegar was added to it.
As a result, the color changed rapidly as well. The experiment, then, should have demonstrated
that buffer solutions really do resist changes in pH.
Why does a buffer system resist changes in pH? Well, a buffer solution contains a weak
acid and a weak base. The buffer solution you used in your experiment had carbonic acid,
H2CO3 (from the Sprite), and bicarbonate, HCO3- (from the baking soda). When acetic acid
(from the vinegar) was added, it could react with anything in that solution. What would it react
with? Well, acetic acid wants a base with which to react. Thus, it reacted with the HCO3-:
CH3COOH + HCO3- ! H2CO3 + CH3COOacetic acid

bicarbonate

carbonic acid

acetate

Now remember, pH is a measure of the amount of H+ in solution. The higher the concentration
of H+, the lower the pH. Notice that in this reaction, there are no H+ ions in the products. Thus,
there is no direct change in the concentration of H+.
Compare this to what would happen if there were no bicarbonate with which to react. In
that case, the acid would simply dissociate:
CH3COOH ! CH3COO- + H+
acetic acid

acetate

In this reaction, H+ is a product. Thus, this reaction lowers the pH. Thats essentially what

happened in the second juice glass. Since there was no bicarbonate in the second juice glass, any
vinegar that was added directly lowered the pH.
Now, suppose we were to add OH- (a base) to the buffer solution you formed in your
experiment. What would the base react with? As a base, it would want to react with an acid:
OH- + H2CO3 HCO3- + H2O
Notice once again that there are no H+ ions involved in this reaction. Thus, the H+ ion
concentration does not change much and, as a result, the pH does not change much, either.
Now you know why a buffer solution is resistant to changes in pH. In order to
dramatically change the pH of a solution, you need to alter the H+ concentration. A buffer
solution contains a weak base and a weak acid. That way, if an acid is added, the weak base
neutralizes the acid before it can affect the pH much. If a base is added, the weak acid
neutralizes it before it can affect the pH much.
Notice that throughout this discussion, we qualified our statements. We said that the pH
would not change much, or that the H+ ion concentration was not directly affected. Why were
we so qualified in our discussion? Well, it turns out that even in a buffer solution, the pH will
change when base or acid is added. Think about it. Suppose a base is added to a buffer. The
weak acid in the buffer neutralizes the base. In the process, however, the weak acid is used up.
Thus, the concentration of weak acid decreases. What will that do to the pH? It will raise the
pH. After all, acids lower pH. If the solution loses some acid, the pH will rise.
Although this is an important effect, it is secondary, because the acid in the buffer is
weak. Thus, the buffer resists changes in pH, but it cannot prevent them. Although the base that
is added is neutralized, the effect of that neutralization decreases the amount of weak acid in the
buffer, and that raises the pH a bit. The opposite can be said when an acid is added to a buffer.
The acid is neutralized, but in the process, this destroys some weak base. As a result, the pH of
the buffer drops a bit. Once again, however, since the base is weak, the change in pH is small
compared to what would happen if there were no buffer.
In the end, then, a buffer resists changes in pH, but it cannot prevent them. Thus,
although buffer systems are an important part of the acid/base balance in the body, it is the least
effective of the three acid/base regulation mechanisms. Although not as efficient as the other
acid/base regulation mechanisms, the nice thing about buffers is that they work quickly. Thus,
buffers are a quick and dirty response to changes in pH.
We need to know the names of three buffers in the body. The first is the bicarbonate
buffer system, which you made in the experiment. It is composed of carbonic acid (H2CO3) and
the bicarbonate ion (HCO3-). This buffer is found in the extracellular fluids. The carbonic acid
neutralizes bases which find their way into the extracellular fluids, while the bicarbonate ions
neutralize the acids which contaminate the extracellular fluids.
The second buffer system we need to know is the phosphate buffer system. It is

composed of dihydrogen phosphate (H2PO4-) and monohydrogen phosphate (HPO42-). The

H2PO4- is the weak acid which will neutralize base that is added to the system, and the HPO42- is
the weak base that will neutralize any acid added to the system. This buffer system is found in
two places. It is found inside the cells, because phosphate is a common substance inside the
cells. It is also found in the nephron tubules.
Finally, there is a protein buffer system which is found inside the cells and in blood
plasma. Proteins are actually single-molecule buffers, because they are composed of amino
acids. The amino part of the name refers to an amine group, which is a weak base. The acid
refers to the acid group, which is a weak acid. An amino acid, then, is actually a molecule that
has both a weak acid and a weak base. As a result, proteins can act as buffers.
As we said before, the buffer systems are the least effective but quickest line of defense
against pH changes. The second line of defense, the respiratory system, is a little slower but
more effective. In the previous module, you learned that by changing the rate and depth of
ventilation, the body can control the pH. Increased ventilation will reduce the carbon dioxide
level in the blood, which will increase pH. Decreased ventilation will increase the carbon
dioxide level in the blood, which will lower the pH. This happens because (as discussed in the
previous module) changing the depth and rate of ventilation affects the amount of CO2 in the
blood. Since CO2 combines with water in blood plasma to make carbonic acid, the amount of
CO2 in the blood affects the pH of the blood.
The last line of defense, the kidneys, is the slowest-acting defense, but it is the most
effective. The cells of the distal tubules of the nephrons are sensitive to pH. When they detect
an increase in pH of the interstitial fluid (which reflects blood pH), they decrease the amount of
H+ that they secrete into the urine. Remember, the third step of urine formation is secretion,
where substances are taken out of the blood and put into the nephron. One of the substances
secreted in this way is H+. If the blood pH goes up, the blood needs more H+. Thus, the
secretion of H+ into the nephron is reduced. This results in fewer H+ ions getting into the urine,
and more H+ ions staying in the blood. This, then, lowers the pH of the blood, and it raises the
pH of the urine.
At the same time, an increase in blood pH will reduce the HCO3- (bicarbonate ion)
reabsorption which takes place in the nephron. Remember, the bicarbonate ion is a base. If less
base is reabsorbed into the blood, what will happen to the pH of the blood? It will go down.
After all, more base means higher pH, so less base means lower pH. Once again, this will
increase the pH of the urine, because if bicarbonate is not being reabsorbed into the blood, it is
staying in the urine, and that raises the pH of the urine.
If the distal tubules sense a decrease in blood pH, exactly the opposite occurs. More H+
is secreted by the nephron. This puts more H+ into the urine, and gets it out of the blood. Thus,
the blood pH increases, because there is less H+ in the blood. At the same time, the pH of the
urine falls, because there is more H+ in the urine. In addition, a decrease in blood pH will trigger
the nephron to start reabsorbing more bicarbonate ion. The added bicarbonate in the blood will
raise the blood pH. However, the urine pH will once again drop, because less base will be
present in the urine.

Notice the pattern that happens, then. If the bloods pH rises, the nephron will stop
secreting H+ and reduce the reabsorption of bicarbonate. This will lower blood pH and raise
urine pH. If the blood pH is too low, the nephron will start secreting H+ and start increasing the
amount of bicarbonate ion being reabsorbed into the blood. This will raise the pH of blood, but
it will lower the pH of the urine.