Chloride is a chemical that is the ionic form of chlorine. This is an essential element for human survival and though chlorine gas is a known toxin for humans, chlorides are essential for life. They play a major role in maintaining the pH levels of the body and also in metabolism to produce energy. An excess of chloride in the body is called hyperchloremia and the opposite effect is called hypochloremia. Chloride can be measured from the blood or from urine. Chloride plasma levels are an indication that a patient is probably facing metabolic acidosis. There are many kinds of metabolic acidosis and all of these are sometimes asymptomatic but cannot be tolerated by our body when swings are too radical. Chloride in plasma is tested using the anion gap test. This is a test that measures the amount of sodium, bicarbonate, and chloride ions in a sample of blood.
Low plasma chloride levels are indicative of a lack of oxygen in the body or respiratory and metabolic acidosis. There are many kinds of metabolic acidosis the simplest to describe is lactic acidosis. This is something that can happen in the body when there isn’t enough oxygen in the body to break down glucose to water and carbon dioxide. This can sometimes happen as a result of strenuous exercise and is characterized by pain in the muscles.
Glucose is synthesized to pyruvate through glycolysis and then broken down to water and carbon dioxide. When there isn’t enough oxygen, the pyruvate is converted to lactic acid. Another more harmful example is ketoacidosis, which is a medical emergency for diabetic patients. This occurs when fat is converted to ketone bodies and is used when the body uses fat as an energy source instead of glucose. This is because insulin is the fuel switch mechanism in the body, and a lack of insulin in Type 1 diabetes or a resistance to insulin in Type 2 diabetes will cause ketoacidosis. All forms of acidosis will increase the body pH levels and after a certain threshold, will cause the death of cells.
Normal plasma chloride ranges are expressed in terms of the anion gap. The normal range should be between 8 and 16mmol – anything more than this is an indication of acidosis, renal failure, and even alcohol intoxication. If the readings are within the normal range then it indicates chronic diarrhea among other ailments and also renal failure.