Internal respiration is the fourth and final stage in
respiration. During
internal respiration,
oxygen diffuses into the
interstitial fluid from the
blood and carbon dioxide diffuses into the
blood from the interstitial fluid.
Oxygen is unloaded from
hemoglobin:
oxyhemoglobin ->
oxygen + hemoglobin
Carbon dioxide is loaded into the
plasma:
water + carbon dioxide ->
bicarbonate ion + hydrogen ion
The loading of carbon dioxide into the
plasma is catalyzed by the
enzyme carbonic anhydrase.
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1 - Anatomy and Physiology Basics