Circulatory system

Transporting gases, nutrients,

wastes, and hormones
Features and Functions
 Circulatory system

• THE MAIN FUNCTION OF THE

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM IS TO CARRY
OXYGEN AND NUTRIENTS TO EVERY
CELL OF THE BODY AND TO REMOVE
CARBON DIOXIDE AND OTHER WASTES
FROM THE CELLS
 Features
• Circulatory systems generally have three
main features:
• Fluid (blood or hemolymph) that
transports materials
• System of blood vessels
• A heart to pump the fluid through the
vessels
 Heart

Pumps the blood throughout the body

 Heart

The heart is a hollow muscular organ,

about the size of your fist, which is
located in the center of your chest
between the lungs.
 The Vertebrate Heart

• Vertebrate hearts are separated into two types

of chambers

• Atria (singular: atrium): receive blood from

body or lungs. Contractions of the atria send
blood through a valve to the ventricles.

• Ventricles: receive blood from atria, contract

to send blood to body or lungs.
Heart Anatomy
• When the heart pumps , the two
atria contract, forcing blood into
the ventricles. The atria then relax
and the two ventricles contract,
pushing blood into the blood
vessels.
Keeping Time
Blood
 Functions
• Transportation of dissolved gases, nutrients, hormones
and metabolic wastes

• Protection against toxins, pathogens, and blood loss

injuries

• Stabilization of body temperature

• Regulation of pH through the blood buffering system

and electrolyte composition of interstitial fluids
throughout the body.
 Components
• Blood is made up of four major
components. What do each of these do?

• Plasma: the liquid portion.

• Red blood cells.

• White cells.

• Platelets.
 Plasma

• A pale yellowish liquid that is

about 92% water.
• The remaining 8% is made up of
dissolved complex mixture of
various substances.
 Plasma

• These substances are

-soluble or plasma proteins such as serum
albumin, serum globulin and fibrinogen
-dissolved mineral salts such as chlorides,
bicarbonates
-food substances such as glucose, fatty acids
-hormones like insulin, testosterone
 Red blood cells
• Also called erythrocytes

• Make up about 99% of

the blood’s cellular
component.

• Red color is due to

hemoglobin.

• Transport oxygen and

carbon dioxide
throughout the body
 Hemoglobin
• Hemoglobin is a
complex protein made
up of four protein
strands, plus iron-rich
heme groups.

• Each hemoglobin
molecule can carry four
oxygen atoms. The
presence of oxygen
turns hemoglobin
bright red.
 RBC lifespan
• RBCs live about 4
months. Iron from
hemoglobin is recycled
in the liver and spleen.

• The hormone
erythropoeitin, made by
the kidneys, stimulates
the production of RBCs
in red bone marrow.
 White blood cells
• Also known as leukocytes

• White blood cells defend

against disease by
recognizing proteins that
do not belong to the body.

• White cells are able to ooze

through the walls of
capillaries to patrol the
tissues and reach the
lymph system.
 Platelets
• Also called thrombocytes

• Platelets are cell

fragments used in blood
clotting.

• Platelets are derived

from megakaryocytes.
Because they lack a
nucleus, platelets have a
short lifespan, usually
about 10 days.
 Blood clotting
• Platelets aggregate at
the site of a wound.

• Broken cells and

platelets release
chemicals to stimulate
thrombin production.

• Thrombin converts the

protein fibrinogen into
sticky fibrin, which
binds the clot.
Blood Vessels
 Classes of blood vessels
• Blood vessels fall into three
major classes:

• Arteries and arterioles carry

blood away from the heart.

• Veins and venules carry

blood to the heart.

• Capillaries allow exchange

of nutrients, wastes and
gases.
 Arteries

• Arteries are thick-

walled, and lined
with smooth
muscle.

• Blood vessels that

move blood away
from the heart
 Arterioles

• Arterioles branch off of arteries.

• Arterioles can constrict to direct and control
blood flow. They may, for example, increase or
decrease blood supply to the skin.
• How might arterioles be involved when:

• Your skin turns red when you are hot.

• A person’s face turns pale with fright.

 Veins
• Veins have
thinner walls than
arteries.
• Veins are blood
vessels that move
blood with wastes
towards the heart
 Venules
• Venules are thin-walled
collectors of blood.
• Low pressure in the venules
allows the capillary beds to
drain into them.
 Capillaries
• Body tissues contain a
vast network of thin
capillaries.
• Capillary walls are only
one cell thick, allowing
exchange of gases,
nutrients, and wastes.
• Capillaries are so fine
that RBCs must line up
single-file to go through
them.
• Capillaries are very small
blood vessel that connects
the arteries and veins
TYPES OF CIRCULATION

• PULMONARY CIRCULATION

• CORONARY CIRCULATION

• SYSTEMIC CIRCULATION
PULMONARY CIRCULATION

• Movement of blood from the

heart, to the lungs and back to
the heart
• Transports oxygen-depleted
blood from the heart to the lungs
 Steps in Pulmonary Circulation

• When the right ventricle contracts, the blood is

forced through the two pulmonary artery into the
lungs. Gas exchange happens in the capillaries of
the lungs, where oxygen is picked up and carbon
dioxide is released to be exhaled. During
inhalation, the blood is replenished and becomes
rich with fresh oxygen, which then flows into the
pulmonary veins and into the left atrium.
Contraction of the left atrium forces the blood into
the left ventricle.
CORONARY CIRCULATION

• MOVEMENT OF BLOOD
THROUGH THE TISSUES
OF THE HEART
SYSTEMIC CIRCULATION

• MOVEMENT OF BLOOD FROM THE HEART

TO THE REST OF THE BODY, EXCLUDING
THE LUNGS

• CARRIES OXYGEN-RICH BLOOD FROM

THE HEART TO THE ORGANS AND
TISSUES
STEPS IN SYSTEMIC CIRCULATION

• As the left ventricle contracts, oxygen-rich

blood is forced into the aorta, the largest
artery of the body. The aorta carries oxygen-
rich blood away from the heart to the smaller
arteries. From here, it flows to all of the
body’s organs and tissues. The blood, having
given up its oxygen and taken in carbon
dioxide from the body’s organs and tissues,
returns to the heart through the veins.
• Blood from the area of the head and neck
travels to the heart through the superior vena
cava. Blood from the abdomen and the lower
parts of the body flows back through the
inferior vena cava. After delivering oxygen to
tissues and absorbing wastes , such as carbon
dioxide, systemic circulation brings
deoxygenated blood to the heart, specifically to
the right atrium. As the right atrium contracts,
the blood is forced into the right ventricle and
the process repeats.
FOUR-STEP PROCESS OF BLOOD
CIRCULATION
HEART

LUNGS
UPPER AND
LOWER
BODY PARTS

HEART
 TEN-STEP PROCESS OF BLOOD
CIRCULATION
• PULMONARY CIRCUIT
1. Right Ventricle
2. Pulmonary arteries
3. Capillaries in lungs
4. Pulmonary veins
5. Left atrium
6. Left ventricle
 SYSTEMIC CIRCUIT
1. Aorta
2. Head, chest, arms,
abdominal region, legs
3. Superior and inferior
vena cava
4. Right atrium
THE END!!!