Biology Department

Chapter 8: Transport in animals

Systems responsible for transport:

 Circulatory system
 Lymphatic system

Circulatory system
Is the system of tubes with a pump (which is the heart) and valves to ensure one-way flow of blood.

Single circulation of fish

Fish have the simplest circulatory system of all the vertebrates. A heart, consisting of one blood
collecting chamber (the atrium) and one blood ejection chamber (the ventricle), sends blood to the
gills where it is oxygenated. The blood then flows to all the parts of the body before returning to the
heart (Figure 9.1).This is known as a single circulation because the blood goes through the heart
once for each complete circulation of the body.

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Double circulation of mammals
The route of the circulation of blood in a mammal is shown in Figure 9.2.

Our circulatory system

- Is a closed circulatory system because the blood does not flow mainly outside vessels.
- Is a double circulatory system because the blood goes through the heart twice in one
complete journey around the system.
1- Pulmonary circulation
- Its pump starts the right ventricle and ends in the left atrium.

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 - Its importance is exchange of gases as deoxygenated blood carried from the heart on the
pulmonary artery to reach the lungs where blood becomes oxygenated , then it is carried
back to the left atrium.

2- Systemic circulation
- Its pump starts in the left ventricle and ends in the right atrium.
- Its importance is distribution of food, oxygen and other useful materials and to collect waste
products.

Advantages of double circulation

During flow of blood in fine blood vessels, it loses a lot of pressure, when returns back to the heart
it gains enough pressure to be forced back to reach the different body parts, supp;lying enough food
and oxygen ond to remove waste products of metabolism especially from active organs.

Disadvantages of single circulation

A lot of pressure is lost during flow of blood in fine capillaries of gills, this makes flow of blood on
the body very slow decreasing supply of oxygen to the body.
THE HUMAN HEART
It is a muscular organ, its muscle is known as cardiac muscle
Its function
Pumps blood to the different parts of the body.

Longitudinal section through the heart

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The two sides of the heart are seperated by septum
It seperates oxygenated blood from deoxygenated blood.

The human heart consists of four chambers

 The two upper chambers are known as atria (singular is atrium)
 The two lower chambers are known as ventricles.

The atria and ventricles are seperated by valves:

 The right atrium and the right ventricle are seperated by a valve known as tricuspid valve as
it consists of three flaps.
 The left atrium and the left ventricle are separated by a valve known as bicuspid or mitral
valve as it consists of two flaps only.
 Both bicuspid and tricuspid valves are described as atrio-ventricular valves as they are found
between atria and ventricles.

Function of valves in the heart

To prevent the backflow of blood, and this allows blood to flow
in one direction only.
Semi-lunar valves (pulmonary valve and aortic valve)
Prevent the backflow of blood from the main arteries (aorta
and pulmonary artery) to the ventricles when the ventrricles
relax (ventricular diastole).

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Septum: separates left and right sides
of the heart.

Left atrium: collect oxygenated blood

and pump it to left
ventricle.

Right atrium: collect deoxygenated

blood and pump it to the right
ventricle.

Left ventricle: pumps oxygenated blood

to the body via the aorta.

Right ventricle: pumps deoxygenated

blood to the lungs via pulmonary
arteries.

Pulmonary artery: carries deoxygenated blood from

right ventricle to lungs.
(all arteries carry oxygenated blood except pulmonary artery)

Pulmonary vein: carry oxygenated blood from lungs to

left atrium.
(all veins carry deoxygenated blood except the pulmonary veins)

Aorta:
- Is the largest artery in the body.
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- Carries oxygenated blood from left ventricle to rest of body.

Vena cava: collects deoxygenated blood from the body to the right atrium.

Coronary arteries: are branched from the aorta to supply the heart muscle (cardiac muscle) with
food and oxygen.

How the heart works

The sequence of events which make up one heart beat is called cardiac cycle.

Stages of cardiac cycle

1- Atrial systole (contraction)
- The two atria contract, so pressure in atria becomes higher than that in ventricles.
- Atrio-ventricular valves (tricuspid & bicuspid) open so blood flows from atria to ventricles.
- Ventricles relax, therefore semilunar valves close to prevent backflow of blood to the
ventricles.

2- Ventricular systole (contraction)

- The two ventricles contract, so pressure in ventricles becomes higher than that of atria,
therefore atrio-ventricular valves close.
- Aortic and pulmonary valves (semilunar valves) open causing blood to flow from ventricles
into the aorta and pulmonary artery.
- Atrial diastole (relaxation), causing blood to enter atria through pulmonary veins and vena
cava.

3- Ventricular diastole, atrial diastole

- Blood enters atria through pulmonary vein and vena cava and falls to ventricles.
- During this stage blood in aorta and pulmonar artery cannot flow back because the semi-
lunar valves (aortic valve and pulmonary valve) become closed.

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 Adaptation of the heart to its function
1- Contains valves to prevent the back flow of blood
2- The walls of atria are thiner than those of the ventricles because the function of the atria is to
push blood to the ventricles only while the function of ventricles is to push blood for a longer
distance.
3- The walls of the left ventricle are thicker than those of the right one because the left ventricle
pushes blood through the aorta to all the body while the right ventricle pushes blood to the
lungs only.
4- The heart is made of cardiac muscles which never get tired.
5- The heart is protected by a membrane called pericardium.
6- Contains pacemaker in the walls of the right atrium which produce impluses to allow
contraction of the heart.

Monitoring heart activity

There are a number of ways by which the activity of the heart can be monitored. These include
measuring pulse rate, listening to heart sounds and the use of electrocardiograms (ECGs).
 Pulse rate
The ripple of pressure that passes down an artery as a result of the heart beat can be felt as a
‘pulse’ when the artery is near the surface of the body. You can feel the pulse in your radial
artery by pressing the fingertips of one hand on the wrist of the other (Figure 9.7). There is also a
detectable pulse in the carotid artery in the neck. Digital pulse rate monitors are also
available. These can be applied to a finger, wrist or earlobe depending on the type and
provide a very accurate reading

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 Heart sounds
These can be heard using a stethoscope. This instrument amplifes the sounds of the heart
valves opening and closing. A healthy heart produces a regular ‘lub-dub’ sound. The first
(‘lub’) sound is caused by the closure of the valves separating the atria from the ventricles.
The second (‘dub’) sound represents the closure of the valves at the entrance of the
pulmonary artery and aorta.

 ECGs
An ECG is an electrocardiogram. To obtain an ECG, electrodes, attached to an ECG recording
machine, are stuck onto the surface of the skin on the arms, legs and
chest (Figure 9.8)

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 Electrical activity associated with heartbeat is then monitored and viewed on a computer
screen or printed out (Figure 9.9)

The effect of physical activity on the pulse rate

An increase in physical activity increases the pulse rate, which can rise to 200 beats per
minute. After exercise has stopped, the pulse rate gradually drops to its resting state. How
quickly this happens depends on the fitness of the individual (an unfit person’s
pulse rate will take longer to return to normal).
 Coronary heart disease

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In the lining of the large and medium arteries, deposits of a fatty substance, called
atheroma, are laid down in patches. The patches may join up to form a continuous
layer, which reduces the internal diameter of the vessel (Figure 9.10)

If the blood clot blocks the coronary artery , which supplies the muscles of the
ventricles with blood, it starves the muscles of oxygenated blood and the heart may
stop beating.

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  Treatment of coronary heart disease
The simplest treatment for a patient who suffers from coronary heart disease is
to be given a regular dose of aspirin (salicylic acid). Aspirin prevents the
formation of blood clots in the arteries, which can lead to heart attack.
- Methods of removing or treating atheroma and thrombous formations include the use of
angioplasty, a stent, and in the most severe cases, by-pass surgery.
 Angioplasty
Angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty, is a minimally invasive endovascular
procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat
arterial atherosclerosis.

 Stent
A coronary artery stent is a small, metal mesh tube that expands inside a coronary
artery. A stent is often placed during or immediately after angioplasty.

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  Bypass surgery
Coronary bypass surgery is a procedure that restores blood flow to
your heart muscle by diverting the flow of blood around a section of a blocked artery
in your heart. Coronary bypass surgery redirects blood around a section of a blocked
or partially blocked artery in your heart.

Blood
Blood consists of red cells, white cells and platelets floating in liquid called plasma. There
are between 5 and 6 liters of blood in the body of an adult, and each cubic centimeter
contains about 5 billion red cells.

Blood sample as seen under the microscope

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1- Red blood cells (RBC’s)
 Function
- Transport of O2
- Transport small amount of CO2
 Are formed in bone marrow

 Its haemoglobin
- Composed of protein and iron.
- Combines with O2 forming unstable oxyhaemoglobin and
the blood is called oxygenated.
- Oxyhaemoglobin decomposes releasing O2 around tissues,
and the blood becomes deoxygenated.
 Adaptation of red blood cells
1- Very small to be able to pass through fine capillaries.
2- Have elastic walls to squeeze themselves in the fine capillaries.
3- Contain haemoglobin to transport oxygen.
4- Biconcave shape to increase the surface area for combination with oxygen.
5- Contain no nucleus to carry more haemoglobin to transport more oxygen.
6- Produced in very high rate, because they have short life (about 120 days)

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 2- White blood cells
Most are larger than the red cells and they all have a nucleus
Function
Defense (immunity)

There are two main types:

Phagocytes and lymphocytes

1- Phagocytes
- Its function is to engulf foreign bodies such as bacteria,
microbes or germs, and kills them by digesting them with
digestive enzymes in the cytoplasm.
- Have lobbed nucleus.

How engulfing takes place

Phagocyte surrounds bacteria to be taken inside it, it secretes enzymes to digest it and use it
as food.

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2- Lymphocytes
- Produce antibodies (proteins) that attack microbes, germs or pathogens.

Effect of antibodies
- Make germs burst.
- Make germs clump to be easily engulfed.
- Marking germs to be easily engulfed.
- Neutralize toxins produced by the bacteria

Some lymphocytes memorize the antigens the body has been exposed to. They can rapidly
reproduce and produce antibodies to respond to further infections by the same pathogen
(disease-causing organism).

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3- Platelets
These are pieces of special blood cells budded off in the red bone marrow. They help to clot
the blood at wounds and so stop the bleeding.

4- Blood plasma
Plasma is the liquid part of the blood that transport blood cells, ions, soluble
nutrients,hormones, carbon dioxide, urea and plasma proteins.
Formed of:
- water and ions such as sodium. Potassium, calcium and chloride
- plasma proteins such as fibrinogen that help in blood clotting and globulin that combat
foreign matter, these two proteins are formed in liver.

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Some of the main components of blood plasma

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Blood clotting
Importance of blood clotting
1- Protection against bleeding.
2- To avoid entering of pathogens in wounds.

Mechanism of blood clotting

1- When a blood vessel is cut, soluble protein in blood known as fibrinogen change into an
insoluble form known as fibrin.
2- Fibrin is a sticky, thread-like protein that accumulate in the wound forming a mesh which
traps blood cells and platelets forming a temporary plug.

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How blood clots

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 BLOOD VESSELS

1- Arteries 2- Veins 3- Capillaries

ARTERIES
Are blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to
the body.

Prperties
-Narrow lumen
-Thick walls
-High pressure
-Rapid flow of blood
-Small arteries are called arterioles.

Adaptation of arteries to their function

- Have thick walls to withstand the high blood pressure.
- Have elastic walls to help in forcing blood.
- Have thick layer of muscles that can constrict an dilate to control the amount of blood
flowing.

VEINS
Are blood vessels carry blood from the body to the heart.

Properties
- Wider lumen that arteries.
- Thinner walls.
- Lower pressure than arteries and capillaries.
- Slow regular flow of blood.
- The smallest veins are called venules.

Adaptaion of veins
-Have wide lumen in order not to resist the blood flow.

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-Have many valves to prevent the back flow of blood.

CAPILLARIES
Defintion: are very fine vessels (one cell-thick walls)

Adaptaion
-Have fine gaps between cells of its wall to
allow exchange of materials.
-Large in number to increase the surface
area of exchange of materials between
blood and body tissues.

What can pass through capillary walls

 Phagocytes
 Components of plasma such as water, and salts (plasma proteins cannot pass as they are too
large to pass)
 Dissolved waste products, food materials such as glucose and amino acids.

SHUNT VESSELS
Blood vessels that links an artery directly to a vein, allowing the blood to bypass the capillaries in
certain area. Shunt vessels can control blood flow by constriction and dilation.

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 The lymphatic system

Not all the tissue fluid returns to the capillaries. Some of it enters blind-ended, thin-walled
vessels called lymphatics (Figure 9.16). The lymphatics from all parts of the body join up to
make two large vessels, which empty their contents into the blood system as shown in Figure
9.22.
The lacteals from the villi in the small intestine join up with the lymphatic system, so most of
the fats absorbed in the intestine reach the circulation by this route. The fluid in the
lymphatic vessels is called lymph and is similar in composition to tissue fluid.
Some of the larger lymphatics can contract, but most of the lymph flow results from the
vessels being compressed from time to time when the body muscles contract in movements
such as walking or breathing.
At certain points in the lymphatic vessels there are swellings called lymph nodes (Figure
9.22). Lymphocytes are stored in the lymph nodes and released into the lymph to eventually
reach the blood system. There are also phagocytes in the lymph nodes. If bacteria enter a
wound and are not ingested by the white cells of the blood or lymph, they will be carried in
the lymph to a lymph node and white cells there will ingest them. The lymph nodes thus form
part of the body’s defense system against infection.

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