Transport of Oxygen from the Lungs to the Body Tissues

Transport of Oxygen from the Lungs to the Body Tissues

We pointed out that gases can move from one point to another by diffusion and that the cause of this movement is always a partial pressure difference from the first point to the next. Thus, oxygen diffuses from the alveoli into the pulmonary capillary blood because the oxygen partial pressure (PO₂) in the alveoli is greater than the PO₂ in the pulmonary capillary blood. In the other tissues of the body, a higher PO₂ in the capillary blood than in the tissues causes oxygen to diffuse into the surrounding cells.

        Conversely, when oxygen is metabolized in the cells to form carbon dioxide, the intracellular carbon dioxide pressure (PCO₂) rises to a high value, which causes carbon dioxide to diffuse into the tissue capillaries. After blood flows to the lungs, the carbon dioxide diffuses out of the blood into the alveoli, because the PCO₂ in the pulmonary capillary blood is greater than that in the alveoli. Thus, the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide by the blood depends on both diffusion and the flow of blood. We now consider quantitatively the factors responsible for these effects.