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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Temperature and respiratory function in ectothermic vertebrates

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Author(s):
da Silva, Glauber S. F. [1] ; Glass, Mogens L. [2] ; Branco, Luiz G. S. [1]
Total Authors: 3
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Morphol Physiol & Pathol, FORP, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Physiol, FMRP, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 2
Document type: Review article
Source: Journal of Thermal Biology; v. 38, n. 2, p. 55-63, FEB 2013.
Web of Science Citations: 13
Abstract

Pulmonary ventilation is adjusted to maintain balance between O-2 demands and CO2 elimination, which is essential for acid-base status in land ectothermic vertebrates. Rising temperatures cause increases in O-2 consumption (Q(10) effect) and decreases in the O-2 affinity of hemoglobin (a rightward shift in the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve). These changes in air-breathing ectotherms are not proportional, i.e., the increased ventilation is relatively smaller than the change in metabolic rate. Therefore, the ratio between ventilation and metabolic rate is reduced, and consequently blood pH changes inversely with temperature. The combination of high temperatures and hypoxia exposure results in an amplified increase of ventilation, which may be explained by the balance between increased O-2-demand and decreased O-2-supply as well as increased O-2-chemoreceptors sensitivity. High temperature also increases pulmonary diffusing capacity. Global warming is expected to have significant impacts on the world's climate, with temperature changes affecting living organisms, in relation to their physiology and distribution. These physiological mechanisms and their capacity to respond appropriately to temperature illustrate the complexity of the relationship between ambient temperature and the respiratory function in ectothermic vertebrates, which are particularly susceptible to change in their environment. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU)