Regulation Of Circulation And Specialised Circulations Flashcards
What are the three distinct layers of the blood vessels?
Tunica intima - innermost endothelium
Basal membrane - fenestrated
Adventia - contains more collagen for new smooth muscle production
How do elastic arteries work?
They have elastin proteins that allow them to stretch to take the volume of blood at the pressure generated by the left ventricle
Given an example of an elastic artery
The aorta
Branches coming for the aorta
What is the importance of elasticity?
It maintains the diastolic pressure in the arterial system and contributes to the after load of cardiac output
Where does the majority of the resistance of the arterial system come from?
Arterioles
Why are pressures generated by the right side of the heart lower?
The pulmonary arteries are wider and more compliant
What are conduit arteries?
They are more muscular and feed blood to the smaller arteries of the organs
How do conduit arteries avoid compression at areas such as joint?
They have thick walls that prevent compression and collapse
What is the innervation of conduit arteries?
They have denser noradrengeric innervation of sympathetic vasoconstrictor fibres.
Cause vasoconstriction when active
What are small arteries or arterioles?
They are the resistance vessels where pressure falls sharply from one end to the other - pre-capillary spinsters
What innervation is there to arterioles?
Dense sympathetic noradrenergic innervation causing vasoconstriction
Can effectively determine the number of capillaries in which blood flows
What happens when sympathetic innervation is removed to arterioles?
This causes vasodilation to reduce resistance to blood flow and increase perfusion of capillary beds
What effect do metabolites produced during muscle activation cause?
They dilate local vessels to that area
What are capillaries?
They are the exchange part of the circulation as the walls are extremely thin and comprise of a single layer of endothelium
Why do capillaries provide little resistance to flow?
Because of the sheer number of capillaries in all systemic tissues
What three things that filtration across the capillaries depend on?
Balance of hydrostatic pressure within the capillary
Tissue pressure if surround tissues
Starlings forces - the colloid osmotic pressures in the vessels and extracellular fluid
What is oedema?
Vessels become leaky to water under situations such as inflammation leading to oedema
Where does diapedesis occur?
At capillaries
What is diapedesis?
The movement of WBC from the circulatory system and towards the site of tissue damage/infection
Explain the steps of diapedesis
i) chemotaxins are released bu damaged tissue
ii) They cross the endothelium and attract and activate WBC - neutrophils
iii) Neutrophils then stick to the endothelium and begin separating their cells
iv) A pododcyte of the neutrophil will extend through the gap and others will follow it towards the site of injury
What are arteriovenous anastomoses
They are shunt vessels found mostly in the skin that connect arterioles to venues directly
Bypassing capillaries
What innervation do arteriovenous anastomoses have?
Dense sympathetic innervation from the hypothalamic areas involved in temperature regulation
How is heat lost through the skin?
Removal of sympathetic innervation to the arteriovenous anastomoses so that blood can flow into the deep subcutaneous venous plexus
How are venules different from veins?
They are much smaller and more numerous
What prevents back flow of blood in veins?
Semilunar valves
Absent in large central veins and veins of the head
Do venules offer resistance to blood flow?
No very little resistance is offered