Regulation of Regional Circulations Flashcards
What takes up the most mass of a person?
Their muscles.
Which two organs are responsible for 50% of cardiac output?
Liver & Kidneys
What’s the deal w/ the heart in terms of cardiac output distribution & O2 consumption?
Heart receives relatively small amt of cardiac output, but consumes a LOT of O2.
Review: what is auto regulation?
Which organs use auto regulation?
It is constant blood flow over a wide range of perfusion pressures.
Heart, Kidney, Brain also show auto regulation.
Where are active hyperemia & reactive hyperemia seen?
Brain
Skeletal Muscle
Heart
Why is it that an increase in the frequency of nerve stimulation of the heart causes a slight decrease in vascular resistance?
Why is it important that a huge increase in vascular resistance doesn’t happen in the heart (coronary arteries) when you get an increase in sympathetic nerve activation frequency.
It causes a slight decrease in resistance b/c of beta 2 receptors (which cause coronary artery dilation).
It is important that the vascular resistance doesn’t sky rocket w/ frequency b/c then when you’re nervous your coronary arteries would crazy constrict & you would die of an MI.
Along with the heart, which organ doesn’t really experience a huge increase in vascular resistance w/ an increase in frequency of sympathetic nerve stimulation?
The brain.
Tightly regulated.
Yay!
T/F The brain requires uninterrupted blood supply.
True–a specialized function of the brain.
T/F The brain maintains constant perfusion to different regions regardless of activity level.
False–it adjust accordingly–a specialized function of the brain.
What are some of the functional adaptations of the brain?
BBB High basal flow Autoregulation Protects its own supply Sensitive to too CO2 or too little O2 or presence of a lot of metabolites (active hyperemia)
What are the 2 structural adaptations of the brain?
Circle of Willis (allows for collateral flow-backup plan)
High capillary density
What are 2 special challenges that the brain faces?
Effects of gravity (postural hypotension). Like when you stand up…the brain is above the heart–how we gonna get blood there?! Why the giraffe has such high BP.
Occupies a rigid box. No room for expansion…inflammation.
What is hypercapnia? Hypocapnia?
Hypercapnia–too much CO2
Hypocapnia–too little CO2
What is the most important local vasodilator for cerebral circulation?
CO2!! : )
Explain the interaction of hypercapnia & auto regulation.
Usu autoreg will maintain constant blood flow over a wide range of pressures in the brain. Like 60-160 or something like that.
But if there is hypercapnia (like way too much CO2) that totally overrides the autoreg mechanism & there is increased blood flow (vasodilation) to the brain to get rid of all of the extra carbon dioxide.
What does hypercapnia & hypocapnia cause in the brain?
Hypercapnia: vasodilation
Hypocapnia: vasoconstriction
Why does hyperventilation cause syncope?
B/c you breathe out all of your CO2…this means that you have low CO2 (hypocapnia) & this will cause vasoconstriction. B/c you don’t get enough blood to your brain…ahhh you faint.
T/F the blood flow pattern changes in the brain in response to your activity at the time. E.g. reading or talking etc.
True.
What are the trends of blood flow to the brain w/ increases mean arterial pressure, increased metabolites, & increased CO2?
Increased Pressure–autoreg it stays pretty constant over a long range.
Increased Metabolites–it increases blood flow
Increased CO2-it increases blood flow
T/F The sympathetic nerve stimulation plays a major role in cerebral circulation.
False. It plays a minor role.
Explain how the brain exhibits both active & reactive hyperemia?
Active Hyperemia: as metabolites accumulate in the brain, blood flow increases in the brain.
Reactive Hyperemia: if a blood vessel in the brain were occluded & then released…there would more than normal increase in blood flow there for a while.
T/F A person who is experiencing the Cushing reflex will have high systemic arterial pressure & a high heart rate.
False.
They will have high systemic arterial pressure b/c of the activation of the vasomotor center. (sympathetic)
They will have a LOW heart rate b/c of the activation of the cardioinhibitory center. (parasymp)
What is a potential problem w/ the Cushing reflex?
The high systemic pressure could mean high pulmonary arterial pressure…this could lead to edema in the lung.
What are the specialized functions of the heart?
It works 24 hours a day.
Needs a lot of energy & O2 to do all of its work.
T/F Coronary blood flow is in large part regulated by coronary vascular resistance & neural control.
False.
Coronary blood flow IS in large part regulated by coronary vascular resistance.
Very weak neural control. But coronary arteries do have alpha 1 & beta 2 receptors.
Does the heart exhibit active hyperemia? If so, which metabolic intrinsic factors are most important?
Yes. It does. CO2 not important. O2 NO Adenosine too much calcium too many H+ ions