Cardiovascular system Flashcards
Series/Parallel Connections
Intestinal circulation passes through the liver before returning to the atrium; glomerular circulation passes through the kidney tubules before returning to the atrium
Healthy levels for cardiac output
70kg woman, 5 liters/min at rest (5 total liters)
Total blood location
85% in the systemic circulation
75% of that in the venous circulation (65% of total)
Capacitive veins
those major veins who hold a great deal of the blood in the body; stretchy walls
Central blood volumes
all the blood in the thorax ~15%; vena cava, heart, aorta and pulmonary circulation
Blood in high pressure compartments
~15% of total blood (ventricles and large arteries)
Blood in pulmonary circulation
~10%
Blood in heart chambers
~5%
Poiseuille’s law
Flow = (P2-P1) * r^4/length
Factors affecting viscosity of blood
hematocrit (percentage of blood made up of RBC) and deformability of RBC’s (tendency to aggregate)
Dicrotic pressure wave
increased pressure in the aorta after the aortic valve closes
Incisura
When aortic pressure stops falling as the aortic valve is closed
Positive inotropic effect
increase in cardiac stroke volume (opposite for negative)
Methods for studying heart
1) Isolated Perfused Heart (take it out and cannulate the main vessels)
2) Isolated Superfused muscle - isolated muscle strips (or papillary muscle) studied in a petri dish
3) Patch clamp of isolated myocyte: isolate cells by digesting away the remainder with proteases. Attach patch clamp to study electrical impulses across the membrane (control cytoplasm)
Syncytium
groups of cells becoming one cell (algae e.g.)
Connexins/gap junctions
link the cytoplasm of neighboring cells together so that they effectively function as a unit (e.g. cardiac muscle)
Functional syncytium
cardiac muscle functions as a single unit, ergo it is a functional syncytium
Hemi-channels
half of the connexin formed by each myocyte; six subunit proteins form channel; max. diameter allows passage of 700 daltons molecule
intercalated discs
lines where the hemi-channels fuse to form the connexins which make the cardiac muscle a functional syncytium
Gap junctions/connexins close when
cytoplasmic Ca or H concentration becomes too high