The effects of enforced activity on ventilation, circulation and blood acid-base balance in the semi-terrestrial anuran, Bufo marinus.

Strenuous exercise results in a marked blood acid-base disturbance which is accompanied by large increases in ventilation rate, heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure. Recovery to normal resting values follows an exponential time course with a half-time of approximately 2 h for all parameters except Pa, CO2 and ventilation rate. The latter return to normal by 30 min following the exercise period. Analysis reveals that there is initially a large discrepancy between the quantity of metabolic acids buffered in the blood and the blood lactate levels. The significance of this finding is discussed. Significant changes in the concentrations of chloride, bicarbonate and lactate, in both plasma and erythrocytes, accompany the blood acid-base disturbance. Chloride and bicarbonate appear to be passively distributed between the two compartments according to a Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium whereas lactate only slowly permeates the erythrocyte.