TOPIC 10: HOMEOSTASIS

10.1 STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF SKIN

– SLOS
• Students should be able to:
10.1.1 Define homeostasis as the maintenance of a constant internal
environment

10.1.2 Explain the concept of control by negative feedback

10.1.3 Identify, on a diagram of the skin, hairs, sweat glands, temperature

receptors, blood vessels and fatty tissue

10.1.4 Describe the maintenance of a constant body temperature in humans

in terms of insulation and the role of temperature receptors in the skin,
sweating, shivering, blood vessels near the skin surface and the coordinating
role of the brain.
STUDY GUIDE
 HOMEOSTASIS
‘ Homeostasis is the body’s ability to regulate its internal environment,
maintaining constant conditions in the body’

• The internal environment means the surroundings of the cells of the body.

• Cells are bathed in tissue fluid, which is derived from blood plasma and
both tissue fluid and plasma have a constant composition, where factors
such as salt and water concentrations, pH, dissolved nutrients and
temperature are maintained at fixed levels
• Homeostasis is important
because cells will only function
properly if they are in an
environment that provides them
with the optimum conditions

• Even the slightest changes in

these optimum conditions can
affect the body functions and,
homeostasis
 NEGATIVE FEEDBACK MECHANISM
• Homeostatic control involves an important principle called ‘negative
feedback’. It is the corrective mechanism where the body’s environment is
brought back to normal by performing an opposite reaction to the change
that has occurred
• For example, if the water potential of the blood increases above normal,
the body will correct this and bring it down to the normal condition.
• Similarly is the water potential decreases below the normal level, it will be
corrected by the negative feedback mechanism
• There are some organs or structures in the body that can detect changes in
the body conditions. These are known as RECEPTORS
• Any change from the normal condition is called a STIMULUS
• For any homeostatic
control to occur there must
be :
a. A stimulus : which is the
change in the internal
environment
b. A receptor : which can
detect the stimulus
c. An automatic or self –
regulatory corrective
mechanism which brings
about the negative
feedback.
 SOME EXAMPLES OF
HOMEOSTASIS IN MAN:

1. Regulation of blood glucose

concentration:
• An increase or decrease in blood
glucose level is the stimulus
• Pancreas (receptor) gets stimulated
• If the blood glucose in higher than the
normal, pancreas will secrete insulin
to convert excess glucose into
glycogen, bringing back the glucose
level back to normal
• If the blood glucose goes below the
normal, pancreas will secrete
glucagon which will break down
glycogen into glucose and the blood
glucose level will increase bringing it
back to normal
2. Regulation of salt and water balance:
• The water potential has to be kept
constant because drastic changes of
water potential can cause serious
problem
• If blood plasma becomes too dilute, the
blood cells will swell and burst and If
blood plasma becomes too
concentrated, blood cells will get
dehydrated (chapter 2)
• The water content of blood is controlled
by ADH ( anti – diuretic hormone),
produced by posterior pituitary gland
• ADH can increase or decrease water
reabsorption to keep the water and salt
balance regulated
 Temperature regulation:
• Maintaining constant body temperature:

1. HOMEOTHERMS: all those who are

warm blooded like humans and all other
mammals and birds. They can maintain a
constant temperature, despite changes in
temperature of their surroundings. They
do it by balancing heat gain and heat loss

2. POIKILOTHERMS: all those who are

cold blooded, like fish. Their temperature
changes in line with that of their
surroundings. Some poikilotherms can
regulate their body temperature up to a
certain degree, but they do it by adapting
their behaviour.
• ADVANTAGES OF MAINTAINING STEADY BODY
TEMPERATURE:

 Metabolism is controlled by enzymes, which are affected by temperature .

 All the metabolic reactions will continue at a steady rate if the temperature
in cells is 37 degrees celcius.

 If the temperature increases beyond 37, the enzymatic activity will stop
because the enzymes will get denatured ( chapter 3)
STRUCTURE OF SKIN:
a. EPIDERMIS:
• The outer most layer of skin
• Made of flat dead cells containing a protein called ‘keratin’
• It’s a cornified layer and is impermeable to water and prevents water loss from
the body, as well as forming a protective surface which resists mechanical
damage and prevents entry of microorganisms

b. MALPIGHIAN LAYER:
• Made of living cells containing a dark pigment called ‘melanin’ which gives skin
its characteristic color
• UV radiations from the sun can damage these living cells by causing mutations
to their DNA, sometimes resulting in skin cancers
• Melanin absorbs UV rays and help to prevent it reaching the cells below
• Dark skins contain more melanin than light skins
• The cells of malpighian layer continuously divide to produce more cells,
which gradually move upward as they are formed and the eventually die,
forming the cornified layer

c. HYPODERMIS:
• The inner most layer of skin
• Contains fatty tissues
• This acts as insulation against loss of heat, and it also stores energy

d. DERMIS:
• Between epidermis and hypodermis is dermis
• This layer contains many different structures
• There are various types of sensory organs, responding to touch and other
stronger stimuli, such as pin prick
• The different receptors send
electrical signals into the
central nervous system
through nerve fibers
• The dermis contains sweat
glands
• Small arterioles lead
through the hypodermis and
into the dermis, where the
branch to form capillary
networks
• Other structures that are
present in dermis are
sebaceous gland and hair
follicles
• FUNCTIONS OF SKIN:
1. Forms an outer tough layer that resists mechanical damage
2. Acts as a barrier against in invasion of microorganisms
3. Forms an impermeable surface , preventing loss of water
4. Contains pigments that protects against harmful radiations
5. Contains sense organs that detect touch and changes in temperature
6. Insulates the body and control heat loss
7. Excrete some waste products through sweating
The skin and temperature control

• Skin helps to regulate body temperature

• There is a thermoregulatory centre in the hypothalamus of brain that
detects in increase in core body temperature
• It sends nerve impulses to the skin and then negative feedback mechanism
plays the role which eventually correct the rise in temperature:
1. Sweat glands get stimulated
• more sweat is produced
• Sweat passes through the sweat pore onto the surface of skin, where it
evaporates.
• Evaporation of liquid requires energy, called the latent heat of
vapourisation.
• The heat to evaporate the sweat is supplied by the body, cooling the surface
2. Hair lie flat:
• Erector muscle are attached
to the base of each hair
• In hot conditions, the
muscles relax, allowing
hair to lie flat against the
surface of skin
• In cold conditions, the hair
the erector muscles contract
pulling the hair upright and
trapping a layer of
insulating air next to the
skin
3. Blood vessels dilate:
• Arterioles leading to the capillary network in the dermis dilate
( become wider)
• This increases the blood flow through the skin surface, allowing
more heat to be lost by radiation
• This is known as vasodilation
• In cold conditions, the arterioles constrict and reduces blood flow
through the skin, so that less heat is lost
4. Shivering
• Another response of the body to a drop in its
core temperature
• Muscles begin to contract and relax rapidly,
which generates a large amount of heat, helping
to maintain the temperature around vital internal
organs

5. Metabolism :
• In cold conditions, liver and skeletal muscles
become metabolically active and starts to
generate more heat, which is distributed around
the body in the bloodstream
• Certain hormones affect the rate of metabolism
such as adrenaline and thyroxine