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Lec 4
Blood vessels
3 types (arteries capillaries and veins)
All of them are lined by endothelial cells
o The cells the blood is in contact with
o A type of epithelial cell lining on a basement membrane
In capillaries the endothelial cells are the only cells present
In arteries and veins on top of the endothelial layer there are layers of
connective tissue and smooth muscle
o Connective tissue has elastic elements for flexibility and
collagen so there is too much flexibility
Blood leaves the hear through the aorta which then splits into arteries
and then arteriole and the arteriole leading to the capillaries
o The capillaries are the smallest vessels but they are the most
numerous and a result the surface area is highest in this place
Capillaries coalesce into venoules and veins and eventually lead back
to a single vessel that returns blood to the heart7
Capillaries are the site of exchange between the blood and the tissues
o A large surface area facilities effective exchange
This also means that the velocity of blood flow in the
capillaries is very low
Flow from human heart= 5L/min
This means that there is 5 L/min throughout the whole
circ system
o When blood is flowing in single vessels it flows at a high velocity
o When blood flows through capillaries which count as a broad
channel when all capillaries are taken into account, the velocity
of flow is very slow
Think in terms of a river
Water passing down the grand canyon is channeled
through a narrow river and so the speed of the
water is very high;
As it approaches the ocean it opens up into a delta
which is a very large area with very low flow
As area gets larger in the capillaries the velocity of
movement falls
This is important because it is a point of exchange
Low speed of blood through the capillaries allows
time for exchange to occur
Pressure generated by the heart is what drives the blood through the
circ system and this pressure drives blood flow through resistance
o Turbulent flow
In a clinical setting turbulent flow is used to measure Bp
Bp pump is used based on turbulent flow
o Also assume that the lengths of the blood vessels dont change
and so the main determinant of resistance in the circulatory
system is the radius of the vessels
o Another
Straight rigid tubes
o BV are rarely straight and they are not rigid
o This assumption has consequences for the productions that are
made based on Ps equation
o In slide 32 the two tubes have the same P however the low
pressure vessel will have lower flow than the high pressure
vessel
In a vessel that can change sizes high pressure will
expand the vessel and so a higher starting pressure, this
tends to stretch the vessel and increases the radius and
lowers resistance.
This fact can screw up the assumptions one makes when
using Ps equation
This fact is taken into consideration by calculating
compliance
o Compliance is the change in volume for a given change in
pressure
In highly compliant vessels one can see high changes in
volume for only small changes in pressure.
This is the bases of giving blood
The venous system is compliant
Large changes in blood volume with very little
pressure
Meaning you can take a litre of blood out of the
venous system with affecting overall blood pressure.
Because of this high compliance the venous system
tends to act like a reservoir
And the arterial end acts as a pressure reservoir
o Important in maintaining function of the circ
system
Blood vessels by function
Windkessesl vessels
o These dampen pressure oscillations
o These are the aorta and the largest arteries
They function to dampen pressure oscillation therefore
maintaining blood flow
o Ventricle pushes blood into the aorta
The aorta though elastic has low compliance
This mean that when the heart ejects blood into the aorta
the aorta stretches a little bit to accommodate that volume
When the heart relaxes and starts to fill again, the stretch
rebounds
There is elastic recoil, and this maintains blood
pressure and blood flow while the heart is relaxed
and not contraction
It is this recoil that maintains blood in ones body while
the heart is in diastolic.
o If blood flow relied solely on the ventricles it would flow when
the heart is contracting and stop flowing when the heart
relaxes.
The elastic recoil from the aorta prevent pressure from
dropping and therefore maintains blood flow
o The ability to dampen pressure oscillations are due to the elastic
element in the wall of the aorta and large arteries(the
Windkessesl vessels)
If these vessels disappear or harden heart functions is
affected
These vessels also have very thick walls b/c they are high
pressure vessels and they have a large radius
o The large radius is another important function on its own
These vessels distribute blood to the heart out to the
periphery
The most effective way to do that is to be low resistance
vessels
The large radius=low radius
o Large radius+ low pressure= thick walls
As blood leaves the aorta and large arteries it passes into
progressively smaller arteries and then the arterioles
Pre-capillary resistance vessels
o These are the smallest arteries and arterioles
o Their small size provide a high amount of resistance
Small radius=high resistance
o Pressure drops abruptly as it goes through the precapillary
vessels
Types of capillaries
o Continuous capillaries
Capillaries where there are no major gaps
Just narrow intercellular clefts between the cells about
4nm in width
Will allow water and ions to pass through
But no proteins can enter through these clefts b/c the
clefts are small
In some areas there are no intracellular cleft ex the blood
brain barrier
Lec 5
Capillaries manage fluid balance
In a closed system animal has blood an interstitial fluid and these two
fluids differ in composition
o Blood contains blood cells and plasma proteins; interstitial fluid
does not
o Interstitial fluid is 3x more in volume than blood
o Losing blood causes the interstitial fluid to become a source of
fluid that brings the blood volume back to normal
Capillaries allow fluid to move into the interstitial fluid or out of the
interstitial fluid to maintain volume
Fluid balance in capillaries is driven by two sets of pressures
o There is a filtration pressure that tends to move fluid out of the
capillaries
This is created by the hydrostatic pressure for blood that
blood pressure
o There is also fluid pressure in the interstitial tissues which is the
interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure
Normally blood pressure is greater than hydrostatic fluid
pressure
This difference tends to drive fluid out of the
capillaries
o Filtration pressure: blood pressure- interstitial pressure
o There is a difference in osmotic pressure between he interstitial
fluid and the blood his is because the blood has proteins and the
interstitial fluid does not
Osmotic pressure of blood is greater than that of the
intestinal fluid and that tend to draw fluid into the
capillaries
Absorption pressure= osmotic pressure of blood- osmotic
c pressure of IF
If filtration pressure is greater than absorptive pressure water moves
out of the capillaries and if the absorptive pressure is greater than
filtration pressure water will move into the capillaries.
Under normal donations at the arterial end of the capillary there is a
tendency to lose water b/c blood pressure is high and the osmotic
pressure stays constant throughout the length of the capillary
o At the venous end bp is lower therefore there is a tendency for
water to move back into the capillaries.
o So essentially there is a circulation water exited at the arterial
end and taken up at the venous end
o If these two things do not match fluid loss or fluid gain into the
circ system will occur
Starling Landis hypothesis
o There is a circulation within the capillaries with no net loss of
fluid
o However this is not true
o The lost fluid is collected by the lymphatic system
Carries the fluid and proteins that leak out and puts it
back into the circ system
Lecture 6
Lymphatic system
There is overall a net loss of fluid from the capillaries this lost fluid or
proteins needs to go back to the circulatory system
This return is the function of the lymphatic system
The lymphatic system parallels the venous system;
o It has leaky lymph capillaries collect fluid and protein that are
lost from the circulatory system and they return it to the circ
system
The lymph vessels are very thin walled and non-muscular but they
are compressed by surrounding muscles
o They have valves that direct fluid flow
o Fluid that accumulates in the lymph capillaries are gradually
moved into the circulatory system
o The lymph vessels empty into the large veins in the neck
This is where the lowest pressures of the circulatory
system are found
Although lymph flow is not a large as cardiac output
Cardiac output=5l/min
Lymphatic flow= 2ml/min
Without the lymph flow to collect the fluid and proteins you end up
with oedema
o Oedema occurs when the tissue swells
The importance of the lymphatic system becomes more prominent
when its function is blocked
o Filariasis
A diseases in which larval nematodes invade the lymphatic
system by blocking the lymph vessels resulting in
extremely severe oedema
Under normal conditions sometimes the lymphatic system cannot
keep up with fluid loss
Kwashiorkors syndrome
In K syndrome the individual is getting enough calories to maintain
life but is protein deficient
The consequence of this causes tissue oedema in the lower legs, feet
and esp. in the abdomen
In K syndrome the lymphatic system is working normally
The physiological basis of K syndrome
o Loss of fluid into surrounding tissues is caused by insufficient
protein in the blood to balance the absorptive force and
filtration force
o The filtration becomes greater than absorption and so there is
net loss of fluid
The other value lies in the maintenance of fluid balance between the
blood and the tissue
Regulation of blood flow is accomplished by two mechanism
o Chronic mechanism
Requires hours to days to come into effect and are based
on the kidneys
If bp is too high then one urinates more in order to reduce
blood volume and this brings b back to normal
Urine flow rate is being matched to either the
increase or decrease in volume to bring it back to
normal
This is mechanism is great for long term control of blood
volume and blood pressure
But does not help with moment to moment
processes
o Acute mechanism
Based on neural reflex arc
They specifically regulate heart rate and the radius of the
arterioles in order to control blood pressure
They are based on P=QR
See slide 50
Regulation of blood pressure= regulation of P
In order to regulate P; Q and R must be regulated
as well
Q= SV x HR
o In mammals heart rate is adjusted more than
stroke volume
R(Total periphery resistance)
o Focus is mostly on arterioles
o Construction of arterioles resistance increase;
if the arterioles are dilated resistance will go
down
Vasoconstriction or vasodilation of arterioles tend to
set pressure
But do not forget the venous system
o Constriction of the venous system is important
because it moves blood back to the heart
Increases venous ceiling pressure and
fills the heart fuller to help increase
cardiac output
Regulating blood pressure is mostly dependent on the
regulation of heart rate and the radius of the arteriole
In an acute sense