The influence of PaO₂, pH and SaO₂ on maximal oxygen uptake

Influence of arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2) and pH on haemoglobin saturation (SaO2) and in turn on O2 uptake (VO2) was evaluated during ergometer rowing (156, 276 and 376 W; VO2max, 5.0 L min-1; n = 11). During low intensity exercise, neither pH nor SaO2 were affected significantly. In response to the higher work intensities, ventilations (VE) of 129 +/- 10 and 155 +/- 8 L min-1 enhanced the end tidal PO2 (PETO2) to the same extent (117 +/- 2 mmHg), but PaO2 became reduced (from 102 +/- 2 to 78 +/- 2 and 81 +/- 3 mmHg, respectively). As pH decreased during maximal exercise (7.14 +/- 0.02 vs. 7.30 +/- 0.02), SaO2 also became lower (92.9 +/- 0.7 vs. 95.1 +/- 0.1%) and arterial O2 content (CaO2) was 202 +/- 3 mL L-1. An inspired O2 fraction (F1O2) of 0.30 (n = 8) did not affect VE, but increased PETO2 and PaO2 to 175 +/- 4 and 164 +/- 5 mmHg and the PETO2-PaO2 difference was reduced (21 +/- 4 vs. 36 +/- 4 mmHg). pH did not change when compared with normoxia and SaO2 remained within 1% of the level at rest in hyperoxia (99 +/- 0.1%). Thus, CaO2 and VO2max increased to 212 +/- 3 mL L-1 and 5.7 +/- 0.2 L min-1, respectively. The reduced PaO2 became of importance for SaO2 when a low pH inhibited the affinity of O2 to haemoglobin. An increased F1O2 reduced the gradient over the alveolar-arterial membrane, maintained haemoglobin saturation despite the reduction in pH and resulted in increases of the arterial oxygen content and uptake.