A rise or fall in the pH of the medium from the optimum of pH 7 usually affect the enzymes' active sites of and therefore the shape and the rate of enzyme activity.

Assuming the pH is too low, the enzyme medium becomes acidic;Acidosis. The high Hydrogen ions concentration interacts with the R-groups of the amino acids moiety of the enzymes, this interaction affects the ionization of the R-groups, disrupting the ionic bonding holding these R-groups in shape.

This results in loss of the 3-Dimensional shape arrangements of the protein molecule and therefore of the active sites. Since active sites of enzymes determines the specificity of the enzymes substrate- complex to give enzyme-product complex, the catalytic activity of the enzymes decreases, the rate of reaction decreases,and products formation stops, and the reaction also stops.

The same is applicable to extremely high pH=Alkalosis.

However, the effective buffer system of the body prevents this scenarios from happening in real sense in the body. Through mopping by the haemoglobin, excretion by the kidney, etc

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3 years ago