Types of Circulatory Systems | Vertebrate Cardiovascular System | Vertebrate Vascular Systems
The Heart | The Vascular System | Blood | The Lymphatic System | Links
Living things must be capable of transporting nutrients, wastes and gases to and from cells. Single-celled organisms use their cell surface as a point of exchange with the outside environment. Multicellular organisms have developed transport and circulatory systems to deliver oxygen and food to cells and remove carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes. Sponges are the simplest animals, yet even they have a transport system. Seawater is the medium of transport and is propelled in and out of the sponge by ciliary action. Simple animals, such as the hydra and planaria, lack specialized organs such as hearts and blood vessels, instead using their skin as an exchange point for materials. This, however, limits the size an animal can attain. To become larger, they need specialized organs and organ systems.
Image from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Multicellular animals do not have most of their cells in contact with the external environment and so have developed circulatory systems to transport nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes. Components of the circulatory system include
There are several types of circulatory systems. The open circulatory system is common to molluscs and arthropods. Open circulatory systems (evolved in insects, mollusks and other invertebrates) pump blood into a hemocoel with the blood diffusing back to the circulatory system between cells. Blood is pumped by a heart into the body cavities, where tissues are surrounded by the blood. The resulting blood flow is sluggish.
Images (insect, top; mollusc, bottom) from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
The above image is from http://www.biosci.uga.edu/almanac/bio_104/notes/may_7.html.
Vertebrates, and a few invertebrates, have a closed circulatory system. Closed circulatory systems (evolved in echinoderms and vertebrates) have the blood closed at all times within vessels of different size and wall thickness. In this type of system, blood is pumped by a heart through vessels, and does not normally fill body cavities. Blood flow is not sluggish. Hemoglobin causes vertebrate blood to turn red in the presence of oxygen; but more importantly hemoglobin molecules in blood cells transport oxygen. The human closed circulatory system is sometimes called the cardiovascular system.
The above image is from http://www.biosci.uga.edu/almanac/bio_104/notes/may_7.html.
A secondary circulatory system, the lymphatic circulation, collects fluid and cells and returns them to the cardiovascular system.
The vertebrate cardiovascular system includes a heart, which is a muscular pump that contracts to propel blood out to the body through arteries, and a series of blood vessels. The upper chamber of the heart, the atrium (pl. atria), is where the blood enters the heart. Passing through a valve, blood enters the lower chamber, the ventricle. Contraction of the ventricle forces blood from the heart through an artery. The heart muscle is composed of cardiac muscle cells.
The above image is from http://johns.largnet.uwo.ca/shine/health/heart.htm.
Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from heart. Arterial walls are able to expand and contract. Arteries have three layers of thick walls. Smooth muscle fibers contract, another layer of connective tissue is quite elastic, allowing the arteries to carry blood under high pressure.
Image from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
The aorta is the main artery leaving the heart. The pulmonary artery is the only artery that carries oxygen-poor blood. The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs. In the lungs, gas exchange occurs, carbon dioxide diffuses out, oxygen diffuses in. Arterioles are small arteries that connect larger arteries with capillaries. Small arterioles branch into collections of capillaries known as capillary beds.
The above illustration is from http://www.prs.k12.nj.us/schools/PHS/Science_Dept/APBio/pic/capillary.gif.
Capillary with Red Blood Cell (TEM x32,830). This image is copyright Dennis Kunkel http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/~kunkel/gallery, used with permission.
Capillaries are thin-walled blood vessels in which gas exchange occurs. In the capillary, the wall is only one cell layer thick. Capillaries are concentrated into capillary beds. Some capillaries have small pores between the cells of the capillary wall, allowing materials to flow in and out of capillaries as well as the passage of white blood cells. Nutrients, wastes, and hormones are exchanged across the thin walls of capillaries. Capillaries are microscopic in size, although blushing is one manifestation of blood flow into capillaries. Control of blood flow into capillary beds is done by nerve-controlled sphincters.
Image from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
The circulatory system functions in the delivery of oxygen, nutrient molecules, and hormones and the removal of carbon dioxide, ammonia and other metabolic wastes. Capillaries are the points of exchange between the blood and surrounding tissues. Materials cross in and out of the capillaries by passing through or between the cells that line the capillary.
Image from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
The extensive network of capillaries in the human body is estimated at between 50,000 and 60,000 miles long. Thoroughfare channels allow blood to bypass a capillary bed. These channels can open and close by the action of muscles that control blood flow through the channels.
Image from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Blood leaving the capillary beds flows into a progressively larger series of venules that in turn join to form veins. Veins carry blood from capillaries to the heart. With the exception of the pulmonary veins, blood in veins is oxygen-poor. The pulmonary veins carry oxygenated blood from lungs back to the heart. Venules are smaller veins that gather blood from capillary beds into veins. Pressure in veins is low, so veins depend on nearby muscular contractions to move blood along. The veins have valves that prevent back-flow of blood.
Images from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Ventricular contraction propels blood into arteries under great pressure. Blood pressure is measured in mm of mercury; healthy young adults should have pressure of ventricular systole of 120mm, and 80 mm at ventricular diastole. Higher pressures (human 120/80 as compared to a 12/1 in lobsters) mean the volume of blood circulates faster (20 seconds in humans, 8 minutes in lobsters).
As blood gets farther from the heart, the pressure likewise decreases. Each contraction of the ventricles sends pressure through the arteries. Elasticity of lungs helps keep pulmonary pressures low.
Systemic pressure is sensed by receptors in the arteries and atria. Nerve messages from these sensors communicate conditions to the medulla in the brain. Signals from the medulla regulate blood pressure.
Humans, birds, and mammals have a 4-chambered heart that completely separates oxygen-rich and oxygen-depleted blood. Fish have a 2-chambered heart in which a single-loop circulatory pattern takes blood from the heart to the gills and then to the body. Amphibians have a 3-chambered heart with two atria and one ventricle. A loop from the heart goes to the pulmonary capillary beds, where gas exchange occurs. Blood then is returned to the heart. Blood exiting the ventricle is diverted, some to the pulmonary circuit, some to systemic circuit. The disadvantage of the three-chambered heart is the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Some reptiles have partial separation of the ventricle. Other reptiles, plus, all birds and mammals, have a 4-chambered heart, with complete separation of both systemic and pulmonary circuits.
The above images are from http://www.biosci.uga.edu/almanac/bio_104/notes/may_7.html. Diagram of a fish circulatory system (left), amphibian (center) and bird/mammal (right).
Images from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
The heart is a muscular structure that contracts in a rhythmic pattern to pump blood. Hearts have a variety of forms: chambered hearts in mollusks and vertebrates, tubular hearts of arthropods, and aortic arches of annelids. Accessory hearts are used by insects to boost or supplement the main heart's actions. Fish, reptiles, and amphibians have lymph hearts that help pump lymph back into veins.
The basic vertebrate heart, such as occurs in fish, has two chambers. An auricle is the chamber of the heart where blood is received from the body. A ventricle pumps the blood it gets through a valve from the auricle out to the gills through an artery.
Amphibians have a three-chambered heart: two atria emptying into a single common ventricle. Some species have a partial separation of the ventricle to reduce the mixing of oxygenated (coming back from the lungs) and deoxygenated blood (coming in from the body). Two sided or two chambered hearts permit pumping at higher pressures and the addition of the pulmonary loop permits blood to go to the lungs at lower pressure yet still go to the systemic loop at higher pressures.
Images from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Establishment of the four-chambered heart, along with the pulmonary and systemic circuits, completely separates oxygenated from deoxygenated blood. This allows higher the metabolic rates needed by warm-blooded birds and mammals.
The above image is from http://www.biosci.uga.edu/almanac/bio_104/notes/may_7.html.
The human heart is a two-sided, 4 chambered structure with muscular walls. An atrioventricular (AV) valve separates each auricle from ventricle. A semilunar (also known as arterial) valve separates each ventricle from its connecting artery.
The heart beats or contracts 70 times per minute. The human heart will undergo over 3 billion contraction cycles during a normal lifetime. The cardiac cycle consists of two parts: systole (contraction of the heart muscle) and diastole (relaxation of the heart muscle). Atria contract while ventricles relax. The pulse is a wave of contraction transmitted along the arteries. Valves in the heart open and close during the cardiac cycle. Heart muscle contraction is due to the presence of nodal tissue in two regions of the heart. The SA node (sinoatrial node) initiates heartbeat. The AV node (atrioventricular node) causes ventricles to contract. The AV node is sometimes called the pacemaker since it keeps heartbeat regular. Heartbeat is also controlled by the autonomic nervous system.
Image from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Blood flows through the heart from veins to atria to ventricles out by arteries. Heart valves limit flow to a single direction. One heartbeat, or cardiac cycle, includes atrial contraction and relaxation, ventricular contraction and relaxation, and a short pause. Normal cardiac cycles (at rest) take 0.8 seconds. Blood from the body flows into the vena cava, which empties into the right atrium. At the same time, oxygenated blood from the lungs flows from the pulmonary vein into the left atrium. The muscles of both atria contract, forcing blood downward through each AV valve into each ventricle.
Diastole is the filling of the ventricles with blood. Ventricular systole opens the SL valves, forcing blood out of the ventricles through the pulmonary artery or aorta. The sound of the heart contracting and the valves opening and closing produces a characteristic "lub-dub" sound. Lub is associated with closure of the AV valves, dub is the closing of the SL valves.
Human heartbeats originate from the sinoatrial node (SA node) near the right atrium. Modified muscle cells contract, sending a signal to other muscle cells in the heart to contract. The signal spreads to the atrioventricular node (AV node). Signals carried from the AV node, slightly delayed, through bundle of His fibers and Purkinjie fibers cause the ventricles to contract simultaneously.
Images from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
An electrocardiogram (ECG) measures changes in electrical potential across the heart, and can detect the contraction pulses that pass over the surface of the heart. There are three slow, negative changes, known as P, R, and T. Positive deflections are the Q and S waves. The P wave represents the contraction impulse of the atria, the T wave the ventricular contraction. ECGs are useful in diagnosing heart abnormalities.
Images from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Diseases of the Heart and Cardiovascular System
Cardiac muscle cells are serviced by a system of coronary arteries. During exercise the flow through these arteries is up to five times normal flow. Blocked flow in coronary arteries can result in death of heart muscle, leading to a heart attack.
Blockage of coronary arteries is usually the result of gradual buildup of lipids and cholesterol in the inner wall of the coronary artery. Occasional chest pain, angina pectoralis, can result during periods of stress or physical exertion. Angina indicates oxygen demands are greater than capacity to deliver it and that a heart attack may occur in the future. Heart muscle cells that die are not replaced: heart muscle cells do not divide. Heart disease and coronary artery disease are the leading causes of death in the US.
Images from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Hypertension, high blood pressure (the silent killer), occurs when blood pressure is consistently above 140/90. Causes in most cases are unknown, although stress, obesity, high salt intake, and smoking can add to a genetic predisposition.
Two main routes for circulation are the pulmonary (to and from the lungs) and the systemic (to and from the body). Pulmonary arteries carry blood from the heart to the lungs. In the lungs gas exchange occurs. Pulmonary veins carry blood from lungs to heart. The aorta is the main artery of systemic circuit. The vena cavae are the main veins of the systemic circuit. Coronary arteries deliver oxygenated blood, food, etc. to the heart. Animals often have a portal system, which begins and ends in capillaries, such as between the digestive tract and the liver.
Fish pump blood from the heart to their gills, where gas exchange occurs, and then on to the rest of the body. Mammals pump blood to the lungs for gas exchange, then back to the heart for pumping out to the systemic circulation. Blood flow is only one directional.
Plasma is the liquid component of the blood. Mammalian blood consists of a liquid (plasma) and a number of cellular and cell fragment components. Plasma is about 60 % of a volume of blood; cells and fragments are 40%. Plasma has 90% water and 10% dissolved materials including proteins, glucose, ions, hormones, and gases. It acts as a buffer, maintaining pH near 7.4. Plasma contains nutrients, wastes, salts, proteins, etc. Proteins in the blood aid in transport of large molecules such as cholesterol.
Red blood cells, also known as erythrocytes, are flattened, doubly concave cells about 7 µm in diameter that carry oxygen associated in the cell's hemoglobin. Mature erythrocytes lack a nucleus. They are small, 4 to 6 million cells per cubic millimeter of blood, and have 200 million hemoglobin molecules per cell. Humans have a total of 25 trillion (about 1/3 of all the cells in the body). Red blood cells are continuously manufactured in red marrow of long bones, ribs, skull, and vertebrae. Life-span of an erythrocyte is only 120 days, after which they are destroyed in liver and spleen. Iron from hemoglobin is recovered and reused by red marrow. The liver degrades the heme units and secretes them as pigment in the bile, responsible for the color of feces. Each second 2 million red blood cells are produced to replace those taken out of circulation.
White blood cells, also known as leukocytes, are larger than erythrocytes, have a nucleus, and lack hemoglobin. They function in the cellular immune response. White blood cells (leukocytes) are less than 1% of the blood's volume. They are made from stem cells in bone marrow. There are five types of leukocytes, important components of the immune system. Neutrophils enter the tissue fluid by squeezing through capillary walls and phagocytozing foreign substances. Macrophages release white blood cell growth factors, causing a population increase for white blood cells. Lymphocytes fight infection. T-cells attack cells containing viruses. B-cells produce antibodies. Antigen-antibody complexes are phagocytized by a macrophage. White blood cells can squeeze through pores in the capillaries and fight infectious diseases in interstitial areas
Platelets result from cell fragmentation and are involved with clotting. Platelets are cell fragments that bud off megakaryocytes in bone marrow. They carry chemicals essential to blood clotting. Platelets survive for 10 days before being removed by the liver and spleen. There are 150,000 to 300,000 platelets in each milliliter of blood. Platelets stick and adhere to tears in blood vessels; they also release clotting factors. A hemophiliac's blood cannot clot. Providing correct proteins (clotting factors) has been a common method of treating hemophiliacs. It has also led to HIV transmission due to the use of transfusions and use of contaminated blood products.
Human Red Blood Cells, Platelets and T-lymphocyte (erythocytes = red; platelets = yellow; T-lymphocyte = light green) (SEM x 9,900). This image is copyright Dennis Kunkel http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/~kunkel/gallery, used with permission.
Images from W.H. Freeman and Sinauer Associates, used by permission.
Blood Clot Formation (blood cells, platelets, fibrin clot) (SEM x10,980). This image is copyright Dennis Kunkel http://www.pbrc.hawaii.edu/~kunkel/gallery, used with permission.
Water and plasma are forced from the capillaries into intracellular spaces. This interstitial fluid transports materials between cells. Most of this fluid is collected in the capillaries of a secondary circulatory system, the lymphatic system. Fluid in this system is known as lymph.
Lymph flows from small lymph capillaries into lymph vessels that are similar to veins in having valves that prevent backflow. Lymph vessels connect to lymph nodes, lymph organs, or to the cardiovascular system at the thoracic duct and right lymphatic duct.
Lymph nodes are small irregularly shaped masses through which lymph vessels flow. Clusters of nodes occur in the armpits, groin, and neck. Cells of the immune system line channels through the nodes and attack bacteria and viruses traveling in the lymph.
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