The Effect of Carbon Dioxide Tension on Tissue Metabolism (Retina)

The metabolism of rat retina was found to be sensitive to the concentration of the carbon dioxide-bicarbonate buffer system. Increasing the carbon dioxide from 1 per cent to 5 per cent at constant pH nearly doubled both respiration and glycolysis. Increasing the carbon dioxide at constant pH from 5 per cent to 20 per cent had no effect on glycolysis, but depressed the Q(O(O2) ) from 31 to 19. In a medium containing glucose and the 1 per cent carbon dioxide-bicarbonate buffer, the addition of succinate increased the Q(O(O2) ) from 12 to 26, without affecting glycolysis. In a medium containing glucose and phosphate, succinate had no significant effect.