NEET-BIOLOGY -CLASS 11-CHAPTER 18: BODY FLUID AND CIRCULATION : QUICK REVISION

CHAPTER 18 BODY FLUID AND CIRCULATION • Blood is a special connective tissue consisting of a fluid matrix, plasma, and formed elements. • Plasma is a straw coloured, viscous fluid constituting nearly 55 per cent of the blood. 90-92 per cent of plasma is water and proteins contribute 6-8 per cent of it. Fibrinogen, globulins and albumins are the major proteins. Fibrinogens are needed for clotting or coagulation of blood. Globulins primarly are involved in defense mechanisms of the body and the albumins help in osmotic balance. Plasma also contains small amounts of minerals like Na+, Ca++, Mg++, HCO3 – , Cl– , etc. Glucose, amino acids, lipids, etc., are also present in the plasma as they are always in transit in the body. Factors for coagulation or clotting of blood are also present in the plasma in an inactive form. Plasma without the clotting factors is called serum. • Erythrocytes, leucocytes and platelets are collectively called formed elements and they constitute nearly 45 per cent of the blood. • Erythrocytes or red blood cells (RBC) are the most abundant of all the cells in blood. A healthy adult man has, on an average, 5 millions to 5.5 millions of RBCs mm–3 of blood. RBCs are formed in the red bone marrow in the adults. RBCs are devoid of nucleus in most of the mammals and are biconcave in shape. They have a red coloured, iron containing complex protein called haemoglobin, hence the colour and name of these cells. A healthy individual has 12-16 gms of haemoglobin in every 100 ml of blood. These molecules play a significant role in transport of respiratory gases. RBCs have an average life span of 120 days after which they are destroyed in the spleen (graveyard of RBCs). • Leucocytes are also known as white blood cells (WBC) as they are colourless due to the lack of haemoglobin. They are nucleated and are relatively lesser in number which averages 6000-8000 mm–3 of blood. • Leucocytes are generally short lived. We have two main categories of WBCs – granulocytes and agranulocytes. Neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils are different types of granulocytes, while lymphocytes and monocytes are the agranulocytes. Neutrophils are the most abundant cells (60-65 per cent) of the total WBCs and basophils are the least (0.5-1 per cent) among them. Neutrophils and monocytes (6-8 per cent) are phagocytic cells which destroy foreign organisms entering the body. Basophils secrete histamine, serotonin, heparin, etc., and are involved in inflammatory reactions. • Eosinophils (2-3 per cent) resist infections and are also associated with allergic reactions. Lymphocytes (20-25 per cent) are of two major types – ‘B’ and ‘T’ forms. Both B and T lymphocytes are responsible for immune responses of the body. Platelets also called thrombocytes, are cell fragments produced from megakaryocytes (special cells in the bone marrow). Blood normally contains 1,500,00-3,500,00 platelets mm–3. Platelets can release a variety of substances most of which are involved in the coagulation or clotting of blood. A reduction in their number can lead to clotting disorders which will lead to excessive loss of blood from the body. • ABO grouping is based on the presence or absence of two surface antigens (chemicals that can induce immune response) on the RBCs namely A and B. Similarly, the plasma of different individuals contain two natural antibodies (proteins produced in response to antigens). The distribution of antigens and antibodies in the four groups of blood, A, B, AB and O . COGULATION OF BLOOD • a clot or coagulam formed mainly of a network of threads called fibrins in which dead and damaged formed elements of blood are trapped. • Fibrins are formed by the conversion of inactive fibrinogens in the plasma by the enzyme thrombin. • Thrombins, in turn are formed from another inactive substance present in the plasma called prothrombin. • An enzyme complex, thrombokinase, is required for the reaction of formation of Thrombins from prothrombin. • This complex, Thrmbokinase is formed by a series of linked enzymic reactions (cascade process) involving a number of factors present in the plasma in an inactive state. • Calcium ions play a very important role in clotting. • Lymph is a colourless fluid containing specialised lymphocytes which are responsible for the immune responses of the body. • Lymph is also an important carrier for nutrients, hormones, etc. Fats are absorbed through lymph in the lacteals present in the intestinal villi. CIRCULATORY PATHWAYS • Open circulatory system is present in arthropods and molluscs in which blood pumped by the heart passes through large vessels into open spaces or body cavities called sinuses. • Annelids and chordates have a closed circulatory system in which the blood pumped by the heart is always circulated through a closed network of blood vessels. • All vertebrates possess a muscular chambered heart. • Fishes have a 2-chambered heart with an atrium and a ventricle. • Amphibians and the reptiles (except crocodiles) have a 3-chambered heart with two atria and a single ventricle, whereas crocodiles, birds and mammals possess a 4-chambered heart with two atria and two ventricles. • In fishes the heart pumps out deoxygenated blood which is oxygenated by the gills and supplied to the body parts from where deoxygenated blood is returned to the heart (single circulation). • In amphibians and reptiles, the left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the gills/lungs/skin and the right atrium gets the deoxygenated blood from other body parts. • However, they get mixed up in the single ventricle which pumps out mixed blood (incomplete double circulation). • In birds and mammals, oxygenated and deoxygenated blood received by the left and right atria respectively passes on to the ventricles of the same sides. The ventricles pump it out without any mixing up, i.e., two separate circulatory pathways are present in these organisms, hence, these animals have double circulation. Human circulatory system • Human heart is protected by a double walled membranous bag, pericardium, enclosing the pericardial fluid. • The entire human heart is made of cardiac muscles. The walls of ventricles are much thicker than that of the atria. A specialised cardiac musculature called the nodal tissue is also distributed in the heart . A patch of this tissue is present in the right upper corner of the right atrium called the sino-atrial node (SAN). Another mass of this tissue is seen in the lower left corner of the right atrium close to the atrio-ventricular septum called the atrio-ventricular node (AVN). • A bundle of nodal fibres, atrioventricular bundle (AV bundle) continues from the AVN which passes through the atrio-ventricular septa to emerge on the top of the interventricular septum and immediately divides into a right and left bundle. These branches give rise to minute fibres throughout the ventricular musculature of the respective sides and are called purkinje fibres. These fibres alongwith right and left bundles are known as bundle of HIS. • The nodal musculature has the ability to generate action potentials without any external stimuli, i.e., it is autoexcitable. • The SAN can generate the maximum number of action potentials, i.e., 70-75 min–1, and is responsible for initiating and maintaining the rhythmic contractile activity of the heart. Therefore, it is called the pacemaker. Our heart normally beats 70-75 times in a minute (average 72 beats min–1). CARDIAC CYCLE • The state in which all the four chambers of heart are in a relaxed state are known to be in joint diastole. • As the tricuspid and bicuspid valves are open, blood from the pulmonary veins and vena cava flows into the left and the right ventricle respectively through the left and right atria. The semilunar valves are closed at this stage. • The SAN now generates an action potential which stimulates both the atria to undergo a simultaneous contraction – the atrial systole. This increases the flow of blood into the ventricles by about 30 per cent. • The action potential is conducted to the ventricular side by the AVN and AV bundle from where the bundle of HIS transmits it through the entire ventricular musculature. This causes the ventricular muscles to contract, (ventricular systole), the atria undergoes relaxation (diastole), coinciding with the ventricular systole. • Ventricular systole increases the ventricular pressure causing the closure of tricuspid and bicuspid valves due to attempted backflow of blood into the atria. • As the ventricular pressure increases further, the semilunar valves guarding the pulmonary artery (right side) and the aorta (left side) are forced open, allowing the blood in the ventricles to flow through these vessels into the circulatory pathways. • The ventricles now relax (ventricular diastole) and the ventricular pressure falls causing the closure of semilunar valves which prevents the backflow of blood into the ventricles. As the ventricular pressure declines further, the tricuspid and bicuspid valves are pushed open by the pressure in the atria exerted by the blood which was being emptied into them by the veins. The blood now once again moves freely to the ventricles. The ventricles and atria are now again in a relaxed (joint diastole) state, as earlier. Soon the SAN generates a new action potential and the events described above are repeated in that sequence and the process continues. • During a cardiac cycle, each ventricle pumps out approximately 70 mL of blood which is called the stroke volume. • the cardiac output can be defined as the volume of blood pumped out by each ventricle per minute and averages 5000 mL or 5 litres in a healthy individual. • The first heart sound (lub) is associated with the closure of the tricuspid and bicuspid valves whereas the second heart sound (dub) is associated with the closure of the semilunar valves. • Each peak in the ECG is identified with a letter from P to T that corresponds to a specific electrical activity of the heart. • The P-wave represents the electrical excitation (or depolarisation) of the atria, which leads to the contraction of both the atria. • The QRS complex represents the depolarisation of the ventricles, which initiates the ventricular contraction. The contraction starts shortly after Q and marks the beginning of the systole. • The T-wave represents the return of the ventricles from excited to normal state (repolarisation). The end of the T-wave marks the end of systole. • by counting the number of QRS complexes that occur in a given time period, one can determine the heart beat rate of an individual. • the blood pumped by the right ventricle enters the pulmonary artery, whereas the left ventricle pumps blood into the aorta. The deoxygenated blood pumped into the pulmonary artery is passed on to the lungs from where the oxygenated blood is carried by the pulmonary veins into the left atrium. This pathway constitutes the pulmonary circulation. • The oxygenated blood entering the aorta is carried by a network of arteries, arterioles and capillaries to the tissues from where the deoxygenated blood is collected by a system of venules, veins and vena cava and emptied into the right atrium. This is the systemic circulation. • The systemic circulation provides nutrients, O2 and other essential substances to the tissues and takes CO2 and other harmful substances away for elimination. • A unique vascular connection exists between the digestive tract and liver called hepatic portal system. • The hepatic portal vein carries blood from intestine to the liver before it is delivered to the systemic circulation. • A special coronary system of blood vessels is present in our body exclusively for the circulation of blood to and from the cardiac musculature. • Normal activities of the heart are regulated intrinsically, i.e., auto regulated by specialised muscles (nodal tissue), hence the heart is called myogenic. • A special neural centre in the medulla oblangata can moderate the cardiac function through autonomic nervous system (ANS). • Neural signals through the sympathetic nerves (part of ANS) can increase the rate of heart beat, the strength of ventricular contraction and thereby the cardiac output. On the other hand, parasympathetic neural signals (another component of ANS) decrease the rate of heart beat, speed of conduction of action potential and thereby the cardiac output. Adrenal medullary hormones can also increase the cardiac output. • Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): Coronary Artery Disease, often referred to as atherosclerosis, affects the vessels that supply blood to the heart muscle. It is caused by deposits of calcium, fat, cholesterol and fibrous tissues, which makes the lumen of arteries narrower. • Angina: It is also called ‘angina pectoris’. A symptom of acute chest pain appears when no enough oxygen is reaching the heart muscle. Angina can occur in men and women of any age but it is more common among the middle-aged and elderly. It occurs due to conditions that affect the blood flow. • Heart Failure: Heart failure means the state of heart when it is not pumping blood effectively enough to meet the needs of the body. It is sometimes called congestive heart failure because congestion of the lungs is one of the main symptoms of this disease. Heart failure is not the same as cardiac arrest (when the heart stops beating) or a heart attack (when the heart muscle is suddenly damaged by an inadequate blood supply).