1 Anatomy & Physiology

CARDIAC MUSCLES

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

2 Introduction
 Cardiac muscle tissue, or myocardium, is a specialized type of muscle tissue that
forms the heart.
 This muscle tissue, which contracts and releases involuntarily, is responsible for
keeping the heart pumping blood around the body. (https://
simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_muscle)
 Muscle tissue in which the contractile fibrils are not highly ordered, occurring in
the gut and other internal organs and not under voluntary control. (https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_muscle)

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

3 Cardiac Muscle
Definition of cardiac muscle:
 It is an involuntary, striated muscle that constitutes the main tissue of the heart
 It is also called the heart muscle or myocardium
 Contraction of cardiac muscle is involuntary, vigorous and rhythmic
 It is fatigue resistant. (meaning it cannot get tired of working)

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

 4Cardiac Muscle
Location:

 The cardiac muscle is the

only muscle of the heart.

 Therefore it is located in the

muscular wall of the heart
called the myocardium.

 The myocardium is the

middle layer of the heart that
makes up most of its mass.

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

 5Cardiac Muscle
Functions:

 The cardiac muscle is only

found in the heart and
therefor has only one main
function. The main function
is to pump blood through the
blood vessels of the body. It
does this through specialized
cells called pacemaker cells.

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

Cardiac6 Muscle
Symptoms Causes
Disorder (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy):
 Thickening of muscle (may thicken in normal individuals
as a result of high blood pressure or prolong athletic Shortness of breath  Dominant
mutation
training-in this case, thickening occurs without an obvious  Important
cause) proteins for
Chest pain heart contraction
 Normal alignment of muscle cells is absent and this
abnormality; called myocardial disarray Palpitation

Light-headed-ness
and blackouts

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

7 Smooth Muscle
Definition of smooth muscle:
 Smooth muscle generally forms the supporting tissue of blood vessels and
hollow internal organs, such as stomach, intestine, bladder and uterus
 Involuntary muscle
 Not striated
 Line walls of most internal organs

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

 8
Smooth Muscle
Location:

 It is located in the walls of

hollow internal organs

Eg: Stomach, Intestines, Bladder,

Uterus, Blood Vessels

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

 9
Smooth Muscle
Function:

 Smooth muscle in the uterus

helps a woman to push out
her baby

 Smooth muscle determines

the flow of blood in the
arteries

 And also smooth muscle

move the food through the
digestive tract

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

10 Smooth Muscle
Symptoms Cause
Disorder(Multisystemic smooth
muscle dysfunction syndrome)
 It is a disease in which the activity
Weak bladder The main cause of
of smooth muscle throughout the this syndrome is a
body is impaired. This leads to certain mutation in
the ACTA2 gene.
widespread problems including
Lung disease
blood vessel abnormalities, a
decreased response of the pupils
to light, a weak bladder, a weaken
contraction of the muscles used for Gastrintestinal
problems
the digestion of
food(hypoperistalsis).
Congenital
mydriasis (fixed
dilated pupils)
HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023
11 Cardiac and Smooth Muscle
Cardiac Muscle Smooth Muscle
 Involuntary  Involuntary
 Found only in the heart  Line walls of most internal organs
 Striated: many myofibrils in orderly  Not Striated: Fewer myofibrils of
arrangement varying lengths.
 Self stimulating: impulse spread  Self Stimulating: Not individually
from cells to cells innervated, impulse spread from
 Intermediate energy requirement cells to cells

 Intermediate speed of contraction  Lower energy requirement

yet contraction spreads quickly  Slower contraction and rhythmic in
through tissue due to intercalated some organs producing peristaltic
discs
HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb waves along organs 05/25/2023
12 Cardiac and Smooth Muscle
Summary:
 Cardiac muscle tissue, or myocardium, is a specialized type of muscle tissue that forms the
heart. This muscle tissue, which contracts and releases involuntarily, is responsible for keeping
the heart pumping blood around the body.
 It is located in the muscular wall of the heart called the myocardium.
 The main function of the cardiac muscle is to pump blood through the blood vessels and to the
body.
 Smooth muscle generally forms the supporting tissue of blood vessels and hollow internal
organs, such as stomach, intestine, bladder and uterus
 It is located in the walls of hollow internal organs
 The function of smooth muscle varies as it is found in the different organs of the body.
 The disorders of both the cardiac and smooth muscles are mainly cause by mutations.

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023

13 Cardiac and Smooth Muscle
Reference:
 https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_muscle
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smooth_muscle
 http://www.apsu.edu/schillerj/Biology%202010/Unit%20Reviews/Unit%203%2
0Review/CH%2009%20Smooth%20and%20Cardiac%20Muscle.htm
 http://www.udel.edu/Biology/Wags/histopage/colorpage/cmu/cmu.htm
 www.cvphysiology.com/Blood%20Pressure/BP026.htm
 www.udel.edu

HE131 Lecture 4 Muscles ttamb 05/25/2023