Arterial P CO2 and lung ventilation in man exposed to 1-5% CO2 in the inspired gas.

Conflicting results have been published on the shape of the curve relating the change in lung ventilation to the change in alveolar or arterial PCO2 induced by increased inspired CO2 (the CO2 sensitivity). In this study eight human subjects with in-dwelling arterial cannulae were each exposed to five different levels of increased inspired CO2 (1-5%). Arterial PCO2 and ventilation were measured in the 7th minute of each period of CO2 exposure. Each CO2 exposure period was flanked by control periods in which similar measurements were carried out during air breathing. We found non-linear increases in both ventilation and arterial PCO2 with increasing levels of inspired CO2. When 5% CO2 in air was inspired the arterial PCO2 increased by about 15% of the inspired CO2 load. There was no significant non-linearity in the relation between change in alveolar ventilation (normalized to body surface) and change in arterial PCO2. The inter-individual variation in CO2 sensitivity was less when alveolar ventilation was normalized to the CO2 output rather than to body surface area. We conclude that the sensitivity to CO2 is close to constant within the range 0-5% CO2 in the inspired gas.