In: Anatomy and Physiology
How does the difference between arterial and venous O2 content change during exercise compared to rest? What causes this change in the arterial-venous oxygen difference?
The arteriovenous oxygen difference is a measure of the amount of oxygen taken up from the blood by the tissues. The greater the amount of oxygen extracted by the tissues, the greater the arteriovenous oxygen difference. Cardiac output and arteriovenous oxygen difference are the two factors that determine the overall oxygen uptake. At rest
Arterial blood will generally contain an oxygen concentration of around 20 mL/100 mL.Venous blood with an oxygen concentration of 15 mL/100 mL would therefore lead to typical values of the a-vO2 diff at rest of around 5 mL/100 mL.
During intense exercise, however, the a-vO2 diff can increase to as much as 16 mL/100 mL due to the working muscles extracting far more oxygen from the blood than they do at rest.
what causes change in arterial venous oxygen difference
During exercise blood flow to the tissues increases,as exercise intensities increase, the muscles increase the amount of oxygen they extract from the blood and haemoglobin dissociates more easily; therefore the arteriovenous oxygen difference widens during exercise. With aerobic training the tissues become more efficient at taking up oxygen; therefore the arteriovenous oxygen difference is still greater in trained individuals.