Organic acids and calcium in hyperventilation

¹ Metabolic Research Unit, Medical Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, Brooklyn, New York

Voluntary hyperventilation in male human subjects produced a rise in plasma citric and lactic acid concentrations and a fall in inorganic phosphorus concentration. The maximum changes occurred 12–25 min after the end of 15–20 min of hyperventilation. Arterial-venous differences indicate that peripheral tissue was the source of the increased concentration of organic acids. The results suggest that hyperventilation produces a change in intermediary metabolism and that the formation of organic acid-calcium complexes decrease the calcium activity at the cell membrane.