Blood Vessels Flashcards
What are the layers of the blood vessels?
1) Tunica intima (contain endothelium, intimate contact with the blood, in vessels larger than 1mm they contain subendothelial layer (basement membrane + loose connective tissue)
2) Tunica media (middle tunica, smooth muscle cells (controlled by our autonomic nervous system) & sheets of elastin, can vasodialate and constrict) bulkiest in arteries
3) Tunica externa/adventitia (collagen fibers, protects and reinforce the vessel anchoring it to surrounding structures, infiltrated with nerve fibers, lymphatic vessels, network of elastic fibers)
What is the vasa vasorum?
Vessels that nourishes the external tissue of the blood vessels
What are the different types of vessels?
1) Elastic arteries (pressure reservoirs)
2) Muscular arteries (distributing arteries)
3) Arterioles (resistance arteries)
4) Terminal arteriole
5) capillaries (exchange vessels)
6) post-capillary venule
7) small veins (capacitance vessels)
8) Large veins (capacitance vessels)
What are the different types of vessels?
1) Arteries
- Elastic arteries (highest in elastic tissue, smooth muscle, low in collagen outs tissue)
- Muscular arteries (low elastic, highest in smooth muscle & collagenous tissue)
- Arteriole (low elastic, smooth muscle & collagenous fibers)
2) Capillaries (only endothelium)
3) Veins
- Venule (no elastic, low in smooth muscles and collagenous tissue)
- Vein (vey little elastic, smooth muscle & collagenous tissue are present)
What are the functions of arteries?
1) Pressure reservoir
2) distributing vessels
3) resistance vessels
Where are the elastic arteries found?
Near the heart in the Aorta & its major branches, largest in diameter, they act as the pressure reservoirs
Where is the muscular artery found and what does it do?
They are found after the elastic arteries, where they function as distributing vessels, delivering blood to specific organs, thickest tunica media, more active in vasoconstriction due to low elastic tissue
Where are the arterioles found and what is its function?
Smallest artery, controls blood flow to the capillaries, they are controlled via neural, hormonal and chemical influences, they are the resistance vessels
What is the function of capillaries?
Exchange vessels, smallest blood vessel
What is a pericyte?
Spider-shaped contractile stem cells, which can generate new vessels or scar tissue, which can stabilize the capillary walls and control the permeability of the capillaries
What are the types of capillaries?
1) continuous capillaries (lest permeable & most common)
2) fenestrated capillaries (large fenestration to increase permeability)
3) sinusoid capillary (most permeable least common)
Where is continuous capillary found?
1) skin
2) muscle
3) lungs
4) CNS
They have associated pericytes,
What is the structure of continuous capillaries?
They have associated pericyte, most continuous capillaries have intercellular clefts between endothelial cells. However, brain capillary endothelial cells lack intercellular clefts and have tight junctions around their entire perimeter
Where is fenestrated capillary found?
In areas of active filtration & endocrine hormone secretion:
1) kidney
2) small intestine
What is the structure of fenestrated capillaries?
Fenestrations are Swiss cheese-like holes that tunnel through
endothelial cells, usually covered by a very thin layer of condensed extracellular glycoproteins. This layer has little effect on solute and fluid movement, the number of fenestrations in capillaries increases during active absorption of nutrients.
Where is sinusoidal capillary found?
1) liver
2) bone marrow
3) spleen
4) Adrenal medulla
What is the structure of sinusoidal capillaries?
Have large intercellular clefts as well as fenestrations;
few tight junctions, incomplete basement membranes, Are irregularly shaped and have larger lumens than other capillaries, Allow large molecules and even cells to pass across their walls, Blood flows slowly through their tortuous channels, Macrophages may extend processes through the clefts to catch “prey” or, in liver, form part of the sinusoid wall.
What is the differences between the different types of capillaries?
All of them have tight junctions, which joins their endothelium leaving gaps of intercellular cleft which differs in size between them
What is micro-circulation?
The flow of blood from an arteriole to a venule
How is blood flow through the capillaries controlled?
By the diameter of the terminal arteriole and the arterioles upstream from it
How is the amount of blood flow into a capillary bed controlled?
Via chemicals and vasomotor nerve
What is a vascular shunt, and how does blood flow through it?
1) its a shunt that connect the terminal arteriole to the postcapillary venule bypassing the true capillaries, it consists of metarteriole and a thoroughfare channel, controlled via sphincter muscles which restricts the blood flow into the true capillaries
What is the function of the veins?
Blood reservoirs (capacitance vessels)
How many types of veins are there?
1) venule (extremely porous, the adhesion of WBC in them indicates inflammatory)
2) veins (formed by the joining of the venules, they can hold 65% of the blood at a given moment)
What is the difference between veins and arteries?
1) veins carry deoxygenated blood towards the heart
2) veins have thinner walls and (larger lumens, which offers little resistance to blood flow)
3) veins have valves (formed by the folds of tunica intima, it is another adaption veins have to compensate for the low venous pressure, most abundant in the limbs)
What is varicose veins?
They are the veins which are dialated due to leaky valves, usually in the lower limbs, it is caused by heredity or anything that blocks the venous return like obesity/pregnancy etc, elevated venous pressure which can cause hemorrhoids.
How many percent of blood is held in the heart at any given moment?
8%
Which blood vessels have the highest amount of blood at any given time?
Systemic veins
What is venous sinuses?
1) coronary sinus
2) dural venous sinuses
They are highly specialized, flattened veins with extremely thin walls composed only of endothelium, supported by the tissues that surround them
What is collateral channels?
Vascular or arterial vessels joining providing alternative pathway for the supply of blood to the organs
Where does arterial anastomoses occur?
Around joints, abdominal organs, heart, brain
Give an example of arteriovenous anastomoses
metarteriole–thoroughfare channel shunts of capillary beds that connect arterioles and venules
What is the difference between arteriosclerosis & atherosclerosis?
Arteriosclerosis is when the arterial walls becomes thicker and stiffer resulting in hypertension, while atherosclerosis is when an atheroma intrudes into the lumen causing arterial spasm
What are the most viable arteries when it comes to atherosclerosis?
1) aorta
2) coronary artery
3) carotid artery
How does atherosclerosis develop?
1) endothelium is injured
2) lipids accumulate and oxidize in the tunica intima
3) smooth muscle cells proliferate and a fibrous cap forms
4) the plaque becomes unstable
What is meant by blood flow?
It is the volume of blood flowing through a vessel, organ, or the entire circulation in a given moment (ml/min) it is equivelant to the cardiac output