5 MAJOR BLOOD VESSELS (arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins)

1. Arteries - carry blood away from the heart

- Large, elastic arteries: leave the heart and divide into medium-sized,
muscular arteries that branch out into the various regions of the body.
- Medium-sized arteries: divide into small arteries, which in turn divide into
still smaller arteries called arterioles.
2. Arterioles - divisions of smaller arteries
- As the arterioles enter a tissue, they branch into numerous tiny vessels called
capillaries.
3. Capillaries - The thin walls of capillaries allow the exchange of substances between
the blood and body tissues.
- Groups of capillaries within a tissue reunite to form small veins called
venules
4. Venules: merge to form progressively larger blood vessels called veins
5. Veins - are the blood vessels that convey blood from the tissues back to the heart

BASIC STRUCTURE OF BLOOD VESSEL

- The wall of a blood vessel consists of 3 layers/tunics of different tissues
1. Tunica interna (intima) - epithelial inner lining (endothelium)
2. Tunica media - smooth muscle and elastic connective tissue
3. Tunica externa - connective tissue outer covering

Lumen - hollow part of blood vessel; interior opening of vessel

Tunica Interna (Intima)
- forms the inner lining of a blood vessel and is in direct contact with the blood as it
flows through the lumen
- Endothelium: innermost layer
: continuous with the endocardial lining of the heart
: simple squamous epithelium
- Endothelial cells: passive barrier between the blood and the remainder of the
vessel wall.
: active participants in a variety of vessel-related activities, including
physical influences on blood flow, secretion of locally acting chemical
mediators that influence the contractile state of the vessel’s overlying
smooth muscle, and assistance with capillary permeability. In addition,
their smooth luminal surface facilitates efficient blood flow by reducing
surface friction.
- Basement membrane: deep to the endothelium
:provides a physical support base for the epithelial layer
: Its framework of collagen fibers affords the basement membrane significant
tensile strength, also providing resilience for stretching and recoil
: anchors the endothelium to the underlying connective tissue while also
regulating molecular movement
:guiding cell movements during tissue repair of blood vessel walls.
- internal elastic lamina (lamina thin plate): outermost part of the tunica interna
:forms the boundary between the tunica interna and tunica media
: thin sheet of elastic fibers with a variable number of window-like
openings that give it the look of Swiss cheese. These openings facilitate diffusion of
materials through the tunica interna to the thicker tunica media.

Tunica Media
- a muscular and connective tissue layer
- relatively thick layer comprising mainly smooth muscle cells and substantial
amounts of elastic fibers.
- Most variable of the tunics
- Primary role
- regulate the diameter of the lumen.
- increase in sympathetic stimulation : smooth muscle contract,
squeezing the vessel wall and narrowing the lumen;
- decrease in the diameter of the lumen of a blood vessel :
vasoconstriction.
- Sympathetic stimulation decreases : smooth muscle fibers relax
- increase in lumen diameter is called vasodilation
- the rate of blood flow is regulated by the extent of smooth muscle contraction in
the walls of particular vessels
- the extent of smooth muscle contraction is crucial in the regulation of blood
pressure
- Smooth muscle contracts when vessels are damaged to help limit loss of blood
through the injured vessel
- Elastic fibers allow the vessels to stretch and recoil under the applied pressure of
the blood
Internal elastic lamina: can only be found in the artery

Tunica Externa / tunica adventitia

- outer covering of a blood vessel
- consists of elastic and collagen fibers
- Vasa vasorum/ vessels to the vessels: tiny blood vessels that supply the tissue of
the vessel
- Easily seen on large vessels such as the aorta
- Helps anchor the vessels to surrounding tissues
- External elastic lamina: a network of elastic fibers that separates the tunica externa
form the tunica media
: numerous nerves and larger vessels and vasa vasorum

Arteries
- the wall of an artery has a thick muscular-to-elastic tunica media
- Due to their plentiful elastic fibers, arteries normally have high compliance: walls
stretch easily or expand without tearing in response to a small increase in pressure
- INCREASE sympathetic stimulation:
- Smooth muscle contraction -> narrowing of lumen (decrease in diameter) =
VASOCONSTRICTION
- DECREASED sympathetic stimulation:
- Smooth muscle fibers relax -> increase in diameter) = VASODILATION
- Damaged artery/arteriole = smooth muscle contracts -> vascular spasm -> limits
blood and helps reduce blood loss

Elastic Arteries
 - Aka Conducting arteries: Because they conduct blood from the heart to medium-
sized, more muscular arteries
- largest arteries in the body
- their vessel walls (approximately one-tenth of the vessel’s total diameter) are
relatively thin compared with the overall size of the vessel.
- Include: aorta, pulmonary trunk, brachiocephalic (right), subclavian (left),
common carotid (center), common iliac
- Two major trunks that exit the heart: aorta and the pulmonary trunk
- important function:
- help propel blood onward while the ventricles are relaxing
- As blood is ejected from the heart into elastic arteries, their walls stretch,
easily accommodating the surge of blood. As they stretch, the elastic fibers
momentarily store mechanical energy, functioning as a pressure reservoir .
Then, the elastic fibers recoil and convert stored (potential) energy in the
vessel into kinetic energy of the blood. Thus, blood continues to move
through the arteries even while the ventricles are relaxed, elastic arteries also
are called conducting arteries.

Muscular Artery
- medium -sized arteries
- Aka Distributing arteries: they continue to branch and ultimately distribute blood to
each of the various organs
tunica media: more smooth muscle and fewer elastic fibers than elastic arteries
- smooth muscle, approximately three-quarters of the total mass, makes the walls of
muscular arteries relatively thick.
- muscular arteries are capable of greater vasoconstriction and vasodilation to
adjust the rate of blood flow.
- The tunica externa is often thicker that tunica media
- The thick muscular tunica media is primarily responsible for the functions of the
muscular arteries
- VASCULAR TONE: the ability to contract and maintain a state of partial
contraction
- Vascular tone stiffens the vessel wall and is important in maintaining vessel
pressure and efficient blood flow
- Examples of distributing arteries:
- Brachial artery in the arm, radial artery in the forearm

Anastomoses
- The union of the branches of two or more arteries (from different parts) supplying the
same body region
- provide alternative routes for blood to reach a tissue or organ.
- If blood flow stops for a short time when normal movements compress a vessel, or if
a vessel is blocked by disease, injury, or surgery, then circulation to a part of the body is
not necessarily stopped. Will branch out and try to connect to another side → collateral
circulation
- collateral circulation: The alternative route of blood flow to a body part through an
anastomosis
- Anastomosis may also occur between veins and between arterioles and venules.
 - End Arteries : do not anastomose; not capable of creating collateral circulation
- Obstruction of an end artery interrupts the blood supply to a whole segment of
an organ, producing necrosis (death) of that segment. Alternative blood
routes may also be provided by nonanastomosing vessels that supply the
same region of the body

Arterioles (small arteries)

- abundant microscopic vessels that regulate the flow of blood into the capillary
networks of the body’s tissues
- The approximately 400 million arterioles have diameters that range in size from 15 m
to 300 m. The wall thickness of arterioles is onehalf of the total vessel diameter.
- Arterioles have a thin tunica interna with a thin, fenestrated internal elastic lamina
that disappears at the terminal end.
- The tunica media consists of one to two layers of smooth muscle cells having
a circular orientation in the vessel wall.
- Metarteriole: The terminal end of the arteriole
: tapers toward the capillary junction.
: At the metarteriole–capillary junction, the distalmost muscle cell forms the
precapillary sphincter which monitors the blood flow into the capillary; the
other muscle cells in the arteriole regulate the resistance (opposition) to blood
flow/pressure; no precapillary sphincter - there will be capillary puncture
- (The tunica externa of the arteriole consists of areolar connective tissue containing
abundant unmyelinated sympathetic nerves. This sympathetic nerve supply, along
with the actions of local chemical mediators, can alter the diameter of arterioles and
thus vary the rate of blood flow and resistance through these vessels. )
- Aka resistance vessels: play a key role in regulating blood flow from arteries into
capillaries by regulating resistance: the opposition to blood flow due to friction
between blood and the walls of blood vessels.
- Contraction of smooth muscle -> lumen diameter is smaller (vasoconstriction)
-> the friction is greater = more resistance
- Relaxation of the smooth muscle -> vasodilation -> decreases resistance ->
increases blood flow into capillaries
- A change in arteriole diameter can also affect blood pressure: Vasoconstriction of
arterioles increases blood pressure, and vasodilation of arterioles decreases blood
pressure.

Capillaries
- the smallest of blood vessels
- diameters of 5–10 m: and form the U-turns that connect the arterial outflow to
the venous return
- red blood cells have a diameter of 8 : they must often fold on themselves in order to
pass a single file through the lumens of capillaries
- Capillaries form an extensive network, approximately 20 billion in number, of short
branched, interconnecting vessels that course among the individual cells of the body.
- Microcirculation : flow of blood from a metarteriole
- Aka exchange vessels: primary function is exchange of substances between the
blood and interstitial fluid
- Found near almost every cell in the body, but their number varies with the metabolic
activity of the tissue they serve
- well suited to their function as exchange vessels because they lack both a tunica
media and a tunica externa.
- composed of only a single layer of endothelial cells and a basement
membrane, a substance in the blood must pass through just one cell
layer to reach the interstitial fluid and tissue cells.
- Exchange of materials occurs only through the walls of capillaries and
the beginning of venules; the walls of arteries, arterioles, most
venules, and veins present too thick a barrier.
- Capillaries form extensive branching networks that increase the
surface area available for rapid exchange of materials. In most
tissues, blood flows through only a small part of the capillary network
when metabolic needs are low. However, when a tissue is active, such
as contracting muscle, the entire capillary network fills with blood.
Throughout the body, capillaries function as part of a capillary bed: a
network of 10–100 capillaries that arises from a single metarteriole. In
most parts of the body, blood can flow through a capillary network
from an arteriole into a venule as follows:
- 1. Capillaries. In this route, blood flows from an arteriole into
capillaries and then into venules (postcapillary venules). As
noted earlier, at the junctions between the metarteriole and the
capillaries are rings of smooth muscle fibers called precapillary
sphincters that control the flow of blood through the capillaries.
When the precapillary sphincters are relaxed (open), blood
flows into the capillaries; when precapillary sphincters contract
(close or partially close), blood flow through the capillaries
ceases or decreases. Typically, blood flows intermittently
through capillaries due to alternating contraction and
relaxation of the smooth muscle of metarterioles and the
precapillary sphincters. This intermittent contraction and
relaxation, which may occur 5 to 10 times per minute, is called
vasomotion. In part, vasomotion is due to chemicals released
by the endothelial cells; nitric oxide is one example. At any
given time, blood flows through only about 25% of the
capillaries.
- 2. Thoroughfare channel. The proximal end of a metarteriole is
surrounded by scattered smooth muscle fibers whose
 contraction and relaxation help regulate blood flow. The distal
end of the vessel has no smooth muscle; it resembles a
capillary and is called a thoroughfare channel. Such a channel
provides a direct route for blood from an arteriole to a venule,
thus bypassing capillaries.
- Three types of capillaries:
- Continuous: most numerous; plasma
membranes of endothelial cells form a
continuous tube that is interrupted only by
intercellular clefts: gaps between
neighboring endothelial cells
: found in the brain, CNS, lungs, skeletal
muscle, smooth muscle tissue, connective
tissue, skin, blood brain barrier
:lesser openings = lesser leakage of blood
inside the lumen
- Fenestrated : plasma membranes of the
endothelial cells in these capillaries have
many fenestrations : small pores (holes)
ranging from 70 to 100 nm in diameter
:found in the kidneys (filter blood), villi of the
small intestine (absorption of chyme), choroid
plexuses of the ventricles in the brain (drains
cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles), ciliary
processes of the eyes (aqueous humor, eye
lubrication; anterior to posterior retina), and
most endocrine glands (in order for
hormones to be released)
- Sinusoids: wider and more winding than
other capillaries
:endothelial cells may have unusually large
fenestrations (resemble a sinus or deep cleft).
: incomplete or absent basement membrane
:very large intercellular clefts that allow proteins and in some cases even
blood cells to pass from a tissue into the bloodstream
:For example, newly formed blood cells enter the bloodstream through the
sinusoids of red bone marrow. In addition, sinusoids contain specialized lining
cells that are adapted to the function of the tissue.
:Sinusoids in the liver, for example, contain phagocytic cells that remove
bacteria and other debris from the blood.
 :The spleen, anterior pituitary, and parathyroid and adrenal glands also have
sinusoids.

Size: venule > arteriole >

capillary

Metarteriole - precapillary
sphincter - post capillary
venule - venule - vein
Venules
- thin walls that do not
readily maintain their
shape
- drain the capillary blood and begin the return flow of blood back toward the heart
- Postcapillary venules: venules that initially receive blood from capillaries
: smallest venules, measuring 10 m to 50 m in diameter, and have loosely
organized intercellular junctions (the weakest endothelial contacts
encountered along the entire vascular tree) and thus are very porous.
- function as significant sites of exchange of nutrients and wastes and white blood cell
emigration, and for this reason form part of the microcirculatory exchange unit along
with the capillaries.
- As the postcapillary venules move away from capillaries, they acquire one or two
layers of circularly arranged smooth muscle cells. These muscular venules (50 m to
200 m) have thicker walls across which exchanges with the interstitial fluid can no
longer occur. The thin walls of the postcapillary and muscular venules are the most
distensible elements of the vascular system; this allows them to expand and serve as
excellent reservoirs for accumulating large volumes of blood. Blood volume
increases of 360% have been measured in the postcapillary and muscular venules.

Veins
- very thin walls relative to their total diameter (average thickness is less than one-
tenth of the vessel diameter). They range in size from 0.5 mm in diameter for small
veins to 3 cm in the large venae cavae entering the heart.
- Lumen is larger than that of a comparable artery
- composed of essentially the same three layers as arteries
- tunica interna of veins is thinner than that of arteries;
- the tunica media of veins is much thinner than in arteries, with relatively little
smooth muscle and elastic fibers.
- The tunica externa of veins is the thickest layer and consists of collagen and
elastic fibers.
- lack the internal or external elastic laminae found in arteries; blood inv eins have ow
pressure
- distensible (adapt to variations in the volume and pressure of blood passing through);
but are not designed to withstand high pressure. : varicose veins -> wider veins due
to prolonged standing/gravity, valves separate/defect
- Many veins, especially those in the limbs, also contain valves: thin folds of tunica
interna that form flaplike cusps. The valve cusps project into the lumen, pointing
toward the heart. The low blood pressure in veins allows blood returning to the heart
to slow and even back up; the valves aid in venous return by preventing the backflow
of blood.
- vascular (venous) sinus: vein with a thin endothelial wall that has no smooth
muscle to alter its diameter. In a vascular sinus, the surrounding dense connective
tissue replaces the tunica media and tunica externa in providing support. (For
example, dural venous sinuses, which are supported by the dura mater, convey
deoxygenated blood from the brain to the heart. Another example of a vascular sinus
is the coronary sinus of the heart. While veins follow paths similar to those of their
arterial counterparts, they differ from arteries in a number of ways, aside from the
structures of their walls. First, veins are more numerous than arteries for several
reasons. Some veins are paired and accompany medium- to small-sized muscular
arteries. )
- anastomotic veins: venous channels that connect paired/double sets of veins that
escort some of the arteries.
:cross the accompanying artery to form ladderlike rungs between the paired
veins.
- Superficial veins: course through the subcutaneous layer unaccompanied by
parallel arteries.
: amount of blood flow through superficial veins varies from location to location within
the body.
- Deep veins: travel between the skeletal muscles
Upper limb: the superficial veins are much larger than the deep veins and serve as
the major pathways from the capillaries of the upper limb back to the heart.
lower limb: the deep veins serve as the principal return pathways. In fact, one-way
valves in small anastomosing vessels allow blood to pass from the superficial veins
to the deep veins, but prevent the blood from passing in the reverse direction.
- Superficial and deep veins form anastomoses with each other
- While the venous blood is a deep dark red, the veins appear blue because their thin
walls and the tissues of the skin absorb the red-light wavelengths, allowing the blue
light to pass through the surface to our eyes where we see them as blue.
Blood Distribution
The largest portion of your blood volume
at rest—about 64%—is in systemic veins
and venules. Systemic arteries and
arterioles hold about 13% of the blood
volume, systemic capillaries hold about
7%, pulmonary blood vessels hold about
9%, and the heart holds about 7%.
systemic veins and venules: blood
reservoirs (contain a large percentage of
the blood volume); which blood can be
diverted quickly if the need arises.

For example, during increased muscular

activity, the cardiovascular center in the
brain stem sends a larger number of
sympathetic impulses to veins. The result
is venoconstriction: constriction of veins, which reduces the volume of blood in reservoirs
and allows a greater blood volume to flow to skeletal muscles, where it is needed most. A
similar mechanism operates in cases of hemorrhage: extensive bleeding
when blood volume and pressure decrease; venoconstriction helps counteract the drop in
blood pressure and limit blood loss.

principal blood reservoirs: veins of the abdominal organs (especially the liver and spleen),
the veins of the skin.

Capillary Exchange
- Main mission of cardiovascular system/circulatory system
- Occurs on 7% of blood at any given time

3 basic mechanisms:
- Diffusion
- Transcytosis
- Bulk Flow: Filtration and Reabsorption

Diffusion
- Simple diffusion: the most important method of capillary exchange
- Diffusion of substances from a higher conc. To a lower conc,
- oxygen (O2), carbon dioxide (CO2), glucose, amino acids, and hormones,
Because O2 and nutrients normally are present in higher concentrations in
blood, they diffuse down their concentration gradients into interstitial fluid and
then into body cells. CO2 and other wastes released by body cells are
present in higher concentrations in interstitial fluid, so they diffuse into blood.
Substances in blood or interstitial fluid can cross the walls of a capillary by
diffusing through the intercellular clefts or fenestrations or by diffusing through
the endothelial cells (sinusoids and fenestrated capillaries).
- Water-soluble substances such as glucose and amino acids pass across
capillary walls through intercellular clefts or fenestrations; Lipid-soluble
materials, such as O2, CO2, and steroid hormones : lipid bilayer of
endothelial cell plasma membranes.
- sinusoids: intercellular clefts are so large that they allow even proteins and blood
cells to pass through their walls.
: hepatocytes (liver cells)- synthesize and release many plasma proteins,
such as fibrinogen (the main clotting protein) and albumin, which then diffuse
into the bloodstream through sinusoids.
: In red bone marrow, blood cells are formed (hemopoiesis) and then enter
the bloodstream through sinusoids.
- Continuous capillaries: allow only a few substances to move across their walls.
:very “tight.”
:The endothelial cells of most brain capillaries are sealed together by tight
junctions. :In brain areas that lack the blood–brain barrier, for example, the
hypothalamus, pineal gland, and pituitary gland, materials undergo capillary
exchange more freely.

Transcytosis
- Smaller quantity
- In this process, substances in blood plasma become enclosed within tiny
pinocytic vesicles that first enter endothelial cells by endocytosis, then move
 across the cell and exit on the other side by exocytosis. This method of
transport is important mainly for large, lipid-insoluble molecules that cannot
cross capillary walls in any other way.
- For example, the hormone insulin (a small protein) enters the
bloodstream by transcytosis, and certain antibodies (also proteins)
pass from the maternal circulation into the fetal circulation by
transcytosis.

Bulk flow (Filtration and Reabsorption)

- passive process in which large numbers of ions, molecules, or particles in a fluid
move together in the same direction
- The substances move at rates far greater than can be accounted for by diffusion
alone.
- Bulk flow occurs from an area of higher pressure to an area of lower pressure, and it
continues as long as a pressure difference exists.
- Diffusion: solute exchange between blood and interstitial fluid;
bulk flow: regulation of the relative volumes of blood and interstitial fluid.
- Filtration: Pressure-driven movement of fluid and solutes from blood capillaries into
interstitial fluid
- Reabsorption: Pressure-driven movement from interstitial fluid into blood capillaries
- Two pressures promote filtration:
- blood hydrostatic pressure (BHP): the pressure generated by the pumping
action of the heart
- interstitial fluid osmotic pressure
- main pressure promoting reabsorption of fluid: blood colloid osmotic pressure
- net filtration pressure (NFP): balance of these pressures (colloid osmotic and
hydrostatic)
: determines whether the volumes of blood and interstitial fluid remain steady
or change. Overall, the volume of fluid and solutes reabsorbed normally is
almost as large as the volume filtered. This near equilibrium is known as
Starling’s law of the capillaries
- INTRAVASCULARLY:
- blood hydrostatic pressure (BHP): about 35 millimeters of mercury (mmHg)
at the arterial end of a capillary, and about 16 mmHg at the capillary’s venous
end.
: BHP “pushes” fluid out of capillaries into interstitial fluid.
- Blood colloid osmotic pressure(BCOP): “pulls” fluid from interstitial spaces
into capillaries
- INTERSTITIAL FLUID:
- interstitial fluid hydrostatic pressure (IFHP): “pushes” fluid from interstitial
spaces back into capillaries.
- INTERSTITIAL FLUID OSMOTIC PRESSURE (IFOP): “pulls” fluid out of capillaries
into interstitial fluid

The difference in osmotic pressure across a capillary wall is due almost entirely to
the presence in blood of plasma proteins, which are too large to pass through either
fenestrations or gaps between endothelial cells.
- Whether fluids leave or enter capillaries depends on the balance of pressures.
 - If the pressures that push fluid out of capillaries exceed the pressures that pull fluid
into capillaries, fluid will move from capillaries into interstitial spaces (filtration).
- If the pressures that push fluid out of interstitial spaces into capillaries exceed the
pressures that pull fluid out of capillaries, then fluid will move from interstitial spaces
into capillaries (reabsorption).
- Edema: abnormalities in the generation or function of pressure; inflammation or
accumulation of fluid in the interstitial spaces. Opposite: hypovolemia/dehydration:
blood plasma is too low

(On average, about 85% of the fluid filtered out of

capillaries is reabsorbed. The excess filtered fluid and
the few plasma proteins that do escape from blood into
interstitial fluid enter lymphatic capillaries. As lymph drains into the junction of the jugular
and subclavian veins in the upper thorax, these materials return to the blood. Every day
about 20 liters of fluid filter out of capillaries in tissues throughout the body. Of this fluid, 17
liters are reabsorbed and 3 liters enter lymphatic capillaries (excluding filtration during urine
formation).)

Blood Flow
- the volume of blood that flows through any tissue in a given time period (in mL/min)
 - Cardiac output (CO): Total blood flow; the volume of blood that circulates through
systemic (or pulmonary) blood vessels each minute.
CO = Heart rate (in 1 full minute) x stroke volume (amount of blood pumped out by
heart)
- cardiac output becomes distributed into circulatory routes that serve various body
tissues depending on two more factors: (1) the pressure difference that drives the
blood flow through a tissue and (2) the resistance to blood flow in specific blood
vessels.
- Blood flows from regions of higher pressure to regions of lower pressure;
- the greater the pressure difference, the greater the blood flow
- the higher the resistance, the smaller the blood flow.

Blood Pressure
- Generated By Contraction of the ventricles generates blood pressure (BP), the
hydrostatic pressure exerted by blood on the walls of a blood vessel.
- determined by cardiac output blood volume, and vascular resistance
- highest in the aorta and large systemic arteries; in a resting, young adult, BP rises to
about 110 mmHg during systole (ventricular contraction) and drops to about 70
mmHg during diastole (ventricular relaxation).
- Systolic blood pressure (SBP): the highest pressure attained in arteries during
systole
- diastolic blood pressure (DBP) : lowest arterial pressure during diastole
- As blood leaves the aorta and flows through the systemic circulation, its pressure
falls progressively as the distance from the left ventricle increases. Blood pressure
decreases to about 35 mmHg as blood passes from systemic arteries through
systemic arterioles and into capillaries, where the pressure fluctuations disappear. At
the venous end of capillaries, blood pressure has dropped to about 16 mmHg. Blood
pressure continues to drop as blood enters systemic venules and then veins
because these vessels are farthest from the left ventricle. Finally, blood pressure
reaches 0 mmHg as blood flows into the right ventricle.

Mean arterial pressure (MAP): the average blood pressure in arteries

:roughly one-third of the way between the diastolic and systolic pressures
MAP = diastolic BP + ⅓ (systolic BP - diastolic BP) = (systolic BP + 2 diastolic BP)/3

Vascular Resistance
- the opposition to blood flow due to friction between blood and the walls of blood
vessels.
- Vascular resistance depends on:
(1) size of the blood vessel lumen: The smaller the lumen of a blood vessel, the
greater its resistance to blood flow. Resistance is inversely proportional to the fourth
power of the diameter (d) of the blood vessel’s lumen (R 1/d4 ). The smaller the
diameter of the blood vessel, the greater the resistance it offers to blood flow.
(2) blood viscosity: The viscosity of blood depends mostly on the ratio of red blood
cells to plasma (fluid) volume, and to a smaller extent on the concentration of
proteins in plasma. The higher the blood’s viscosity, the higher the resistance.
 dehydration or polycythemia (an unusually high number of red blood cells) ->
increase bp
A depletion of plasma proteins or red blood cells, due to anemia or hemorrhage,
decreases viscosity and thus decreases blood pressure.

(3) total blood vessel length. Resistance to blood flow through a vessel is directly
proportional to the length of the blood vessel. The longer a blood vessel, the greater
the resistance.
Obese people often have hypertension (elevated blood pressure) because the
additional blood vessels in their adipose tissue increase their total blood vessel
length.
The smallest vessels—arterioles, capillaries, and venules—contribute the most
resistance. A major function of arterioles is to control SVR—and therefore blood
pressure and blood flow to particular tissues—by changing their diameters. Arterioles
need to vasodilate or vasoconstrict only slightly to have a large effect on SVR. The
main center for regulation of SVR is the vasomotor center in the brain stem
(described shortly).

Venous Return
- the volume of blood flowing back to the heart through the systemic veins,
occurs due to the pressure generated by contractions of the heart’s left
ventricle
- The pressure difference from venules (averaging about 16 mmHg) to the right
ventricle (0 mmHg), although small, normally is sufficient to cause venous
return to the heart. If pressure increases in the right atrium or ventricle,
venous return will decrease. One cause of increased pressure in the right
atrium is an incompetent (leaky) tricuspid valve, which lets blood regurgitate
(flow backward) as the ventricles contract. The result is decreased venous
return and buildup of blood on the venous side of the systemic circulation.
When you stand up, for example, at the end of an anatomy and physiology
lecture, the pressure pushing blood up the veins in your lower limbs is barely
enough to overcome the force of gravity pushing it back down.
- Besides the heart, two other mechanisms “pump” blood from the lower body
back to the heart: (1) the skeletal muscle pump and (2) the respiratory
pump. Both pumps depend on the presence of valves in veins.

The skeletal muscle pump operates as follows:

1 While you are standing at rest, both the venous valve closer to the heart (proximal valve)
and the one farther from the heart (distal valve) in this part of the leg are open, and blood
flows upward toward the heart.

2 Contraction of leg muscles, such as when you stand on tiptoes or take a step, compresses
the vein. The compression pushes blood through the proximal valve, an action called
milking. At the same time, the distal valve in the uncompressed segment of the vein closes
as some blood is pushed against it.
People who are immobilized through injury or disease lack these contractions of leg
muscles. As a result, their venous return is slower and they may develop circulation
problems.
3 Just after muscle relaxation, pressure falls in the previously compressed section of vein,
which causes the proximal valve to close. The distal valve now opens because blood
pressure in the foot is higher than in the leg, and the vein fills with blood from the foot. The
proximal valve then reopens.

The respiratory pump is also based on alternating compression and decompression of

veins.
- During inhalation, the diaphragm moves downward, which causes a decrease in
pressure in the thoracic cavity and an increase in pressure in the abdominal cavity.
As a result, abdominal veins are compressed, and a greater volume of blood moves
from the compressed abdominal veins into the decompressed thoracic veins and
then into the right atrium.
- When the pressures reverse during exhalation, the valves in the veins prevent
backflow of blood from the thoracic veins to the abdominal veins.

Velocity of Blood Flow

- The speed or velocity of blood flow (in cm/sec) is inversely related to the cross-
sectional area.
- Velocity is slowest where the total cross-sectional area is greatest.
- Each time an artery branches, the total cross-sectional area of all of its branches is
greater than the cross-sectional area of the original vessel, so blood flow becomes
slower and slower as blood moves further away from the heart, and is slowest in the
capillaries.
- Conversely, when venules unite to form veins, the total cross-sectional area
becomes smaller and flow becomes faster.
- In an adult, the crosssectional area of the aorta is only 3–5 cm2 , and the average
velocity of the blood there is 40 cm/sec. In capillaries, the total cross-sectional area
is 4500–6000 cm2 , and the velocity of blood flow is less than 0.1 cm/sec. In the two
venae cavae combined, the cross-sectional area is about 14 cm2 , and the velocity is
about 15 cm/sec. Thus, the velocity of blood flow decreases as blood flows from the
aorta to arteries to arterioles to capillaries, and increases as it leaves capillaries and
returns to the heart. The relatively slow rate of flow through capillaries aids the
exchange of materials between blood and interstitial fluid.
 Two main circulatory routes:
1. Systemic circulation
Includes:
◦ the arteries and arterioles
that carry oxygenated blood
from the left ventricle to
systemic capillaries
◦ the veins and venules that
return deoxygenated blood to
the
right atrium.
- Blood leaving the aorta
and flowing through the
systemic arteries is
bright red in color bc it
is oxygenated. As
blood flows through the
capillaries, it loses
some oxygen and picks
up carbon dioxide
becoming a dark red
oclor.
All systemic arteries branch from the aorta (completing the circuit)
 All the veins of the systemic
circulation drain into the
superior vena cava, the
inferior vena cava, or the
coronary sinus, which in turn
empty into the rightatrium.
The bronchial arteries, which
carry nutrients to the lungs,
also are part of the systemic
circulation.

Left ventricle - highest pressure as

it pushes blood against the aorta

2. Pulmonary Circulation
PULMONARY CIRCULATION
• carries deoxygenated blood from
the right ventricle of the heart to the
air sacs (alveoli) within the lungs and returns oxygenated blood from the air sacs to the left
atrium.
• Pulmonary trunk - emerges from the right ventricle and passes superiorly, posteriorly, and
to the left.
• Divides into two branches: the right pulmonary artery and the left pulmonary artery
• After birth, the pulmonary arteries are the only arteries that carry deoxygenated blood.
• Pulmonary veins - exit the lungs and carry the oxygenated blood to the left atrium.
• After birth, the pulmonary veins are the only veins that carry oxygenated blood.