Microcirculation and Lymphatics (B2: W2) Flashcards
How does branching occur typically from arterioles/venules to capillaries?
From first order arteriole and vein, down to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
Then cappilaries
How long does the blood remain in the capillaries for exchange?
1 to 3 seconds
What percentage of capillaries are closed under normal circumstances?
75% are closed, and 25% are open
When different organs and tissues need more blood, capillary recruitment opens more
Do true capillaries have smooth muscle walls?
No
How long are capillaries?
0.3 to 1 mm long
What is the proximal and distal arrangement of a capillary bed?
- Proximally: 10-100 capillaries, usually supplied by a single arteriole or metarteriole
- Distally: capillaries transition to venules or drain into a thoroughfarechannel/preferential channel (continuation of a metarteriole)
What regulates blood flow through the capillaries?
Contraction and relaxation of the arterioles, and the precapillary sphincters
How are the precapillary sphincters regulated?
Sensitive to local factors and local conditions in the tissue
- Concentrations of oxygen and nutrients
- End products of metabolism
- H+
- etc…
What is the perfusion in the capillaries when the precapillary sphincters are open compared to when they are closed?
- Sphincters open - capillaries well perfused
- Sphincters closed - little to no blood flow occurs
- Blood takes a shortcut and goes straight to venule
How many blood cells are able to pass through a single capillary at a particular point of time? Why does this matter?
One RBC passes through at a time
Important for exchange between capillaries and tissues
What is the composition of the capillary wall?
- Unicellular layer of endothelial cells
- Have some plasmalemmal vesicles
- Basement membrane
- Total thickness: 0.5 micrometer
How do most water-soluble substances diffuse through the capillary membrane?
Along intercellular clefts
Where are fenestrated capillaries found?
Small intestine
Exocrine glands
Renal glomeruli
Where are sinusoidal (discontinuous) capillaries found?
Liver
Spleen
Bone marrow
What are the most common form of capillaries?
Continuous capillaries
Where does exchange take place between a blood capillary and a lymphatic capillary?
In the interstitial space
There is always some exchange going on here
What are the 4 mechanisms of exchange across the capillary wall?
- Diffusion: substances must be lipid-soluble (or gasses)
- Bulk flow: intercellular clefts let water-soluble molecules through (H2O, electrolytes, glucose, amino acids)
- Vesicular transport: larger molecules can be engulfed and transported through for release on the other side
- Active transport: ions and small molecules can go against their concentration gradient
Which is the most important means for transfer of substances between the plasma membrane of the capillaries and the interstitial fluid?
Diffusion
(from high to low concentration)
What alters bulk flow across a capillary?
Changes in pressure gradient - either hydrostatic or colloid osmotic
Explain pinocytosis/transcytosis
- Endothelial cells pick up matherial on one side of their membrane by pinocytosis or receptor-mediated endocytosis
- Transport vesicles across cell
- Discharge material on other side by exocytosis
What substances are transported via pinocytosis?
- Fatty acids
- Albumin
- Some hormones
What will happen to the pressure and flow in the capillaries during arteriolar constriction? And during arteriolar dilation?
Arteriolar constriction reduces the hydrostatic pressure in the capillaries
- Forces will exceed filtration forces and net reabsorption of interstitial fluid into the vascular bed will occur
Conversely, arteriolar dilation increases the hydrostatic pressure in capillaries