Blood vessel histology Flashcards
What are the 3 layers of blood vessels? (histology)
Tunica intima
Tunica media
Tunica adventitia
What are the 3 components of the tunica intima?
Endothelium
Subendothelium
Internal elastic lamina
What are the 2 components of the tunica media?
Smooth muscle fibres. External elastic lamina
What are the 2 components of the tunica adventitia?
Connective tissue
Vasa vasorum
What are the vasa vasorum?
Small blood vessels that provide oxygen to the outer wall of the vessel
What are the 6 main elastic arteries?
Aorta
Brachiocephalic trunk
Common carotid arteries
Subclavian arteries
Common iliac arteries
Pulmonary trunk
What are the 2 reasons the elastic arteries need to contain more elastic tissue?
They are relatively thin compared to their diameter
The walls needs to stretch to accommodate blood under medium to high pressures when the heart contracts
List some of the muscular arteries.
Radial
Femoral
Coronary
Cerebral
Which histological layer is thick in the muscular arteries?
Tunica media
Damage to the endothelium lining a blood vessel leads to the accumulation of what?
LDL cholesterol in the tunica intima
Which cells help to repair capillaries?
Pericytes
Exchange between the capillary blood and tissue cells occurs by which two mechanisms?
Passive diffusion and pinocytosis
What are the 3 types of capillary?
Continuous
Fenestrated
Sinusoidal
Sinusoidal capillaries are found in areas where large amounts of what need to be exchanged?
Protein
