Buffersystemen in het lichaam

Chemical buffers maintain stable fluid pH by absorbing hydrogen ions when pH drops and releasing them when pH rises.

A typical buffer system in body fluids consists of a weak acid with an associated anion, which acts as a weak base.

Weak acids and bases dissociate only partially, leading to minimal pH alterations, making them efficient buffers.

When in solution, these buffers exist in equilibrium with their dissociation products, such that H-Y is always in equilibrium with H⁺ and Y^-.

Any change in pH disrupts this equilibrium. For instance, adding hydrogen ions shifts the equilibrium to the right, removing excess hydrogen ions and stabilizing the pH.

The human body has three primary buffer systems — phosphate, protein, and carbonic acid–bicarbonate buffer systems.

Interestingly, these buffers only partially restore the acid-base balance as the hydrogen ions they absorb need to be exhaled through respiratory compensation mechanisms or excreted by renal compensatory mechanisms.