Professional Documents
Culture Documents
dr. Winarsi
• Respiratory system is charged both with
ensuring uptake of adequate oxygen to meet the
metabolic needs of the body’s cells and
disposing of the carbon dioxide produced during
metabolism by these cells.
Oxygen is the final electron acceptor for all the
metabolic processes taking place within the
mitochondria, including fatty acid oxidation, the
citric acid cycle, and the electron transport
chain, the last of which generates adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) for energy needs of the cell.
• In aggregate, these metabolic processes consume a
considerable amount of oxygen. To meet this ceaseless
demand for oxygen, three system must interact in a
seamless manner so that the individual can promptly
adjust to varying metabolic demands. These three
systems are:
1. The lungs and associated muscular pumping
mechanisms which take in oxygen from the air and
exhale carbon dioxude into the atmosphere.
2. The blood and circulatory system with hemoglobin
rich red blood cells that transport O2 and CO2.
3. The nervous system which controls the rhythmic
action of the respiratory system including the lungs,
airways, and muscular bellows in response to the body’s
needs.
• Surfactant and surface tension.
Even though surface tension is crucial to
maintaining the intimacy of two pleural suefaces,
this same physical force could obliterate the alveolar
spaces if there was not some substance to mitigate
alveolar surface tension. Fortunately, a group of
proteins and phospholipid, collectively referred to as
surfactant, decreases the surface tension in the
alveoli, thus maintaning their patency, much as soap
bubbles maintain themselves.
To prevent alveolar collapse, the alveolar wall
contains a specialized, Type II, pneumocyte, which
is responsible for synthesis and secretion of
surfactant into the extracellular space interposed
between the alveolar air and the epithelial cell
surface.
• Surfactant functions to lower the surface tension
at the gas-liquid interface.
Approximately 90% of the composition of
surfactant is lipid in nature, of which virtually
90% is phospholipid
(dipamitoylphosphatidylcholine [DPPC] which
constitutes 70%-80% of the phospholipid).
By lowering the surface tension, surfactant
prevents alveolar collapse and reduces the effort
to expand the lungs after each expiration.
When, because of prematurity, surfactant is not
manufactured, respiratory distress syndrome
(RDS) of the neonate results. And when in any
age group, sepsis or other serious disease
damage the lung and consequently the
synthesis of surfactant, adult RDS results.
• Physical exchange of gases