Heart

Blood Vessel Structure

Structure of blood vessels
Capillary types
 Basic Structure of a Blood Vessel
• wall of a blood vessel consists of three layers, or tunics:
• epithelial inner lining
• middle layer: smooth muscle and elastic connective tissue
• connective tissue outer covering
• tunica interna (intima), tunica media, and tunica externa
(adventia)
• Modifications of this basic design account for five types of
blood vessels and structural and functional differences
among various vessel types.
Tunica Interna (Intima)
• inner lining of a blood vessel and in direct contact with blood
as it flows through the lumen or interior opening, of vessel
• Least contribution to thickness of the vessel wall
• First, Innermost layer -endothelium, continuous with
endocardial lining of heart
• lines inner surface of entire cardiovascular system (heart and
blood vessels)
Role:
• physical influences on blood flow
• secretion of locally acting chemical mediators
• assistance with capillary permeability
• Second component- basement membrane deep to
endothelium.
• provides a physical support base for epithelial layer.
• framework of collagen fibers - tensile strength- resilience for
stretching and recoil.
• It anchors endothelium to underlying connective tissue
• role in guiding cell movements during tissue repair of blood
vessel walls.
• outermost part of tunica interna, forms boundary between
tunica interna and tunica media, - internal elastic lamina
• thin sheet of elastic fibers with a variable number of window-
like openings- facilitate diffusion of materials through tunica
interna to thicker tunica media.
Tunica Media
• a muscular and connective tissue layer - displays greatest
variation among different vessel types
• Relatively thick layer of smooth muscle cells and elastic fibers
• role of smooth muscle cells- regulate diameter of lumen
• sympathetic stimulation - contract, squeezing vessel wall and
narrowing the lumen- vasoconstriction
• Low sympathetic stimulation or due to certain chemicals
(nitric oxide, Histamine and lactic acid) or in response to
blood pressure, smooth muscle fibers relax, increase in
lumen – vasodilation
• Control rate of blood flow through different parts of the body
• is crucial in regulation of blood pressure.
• vascular spasm- contracts on damage of artery or arteriole
• Produce elastic fibers within tunica media - allow vessels to
stretch and recoil under applied pressure of blood
• Separating tunica media from tunica externa is a network of
elastic fibers- external elastic lamina- part of tunica media

Tunica Externa
• outer covering of a blood vessel - elastic and collagen fibers
• tunica externa contains numerous nerves & self vessels (tiny)
• anchor vessels to surrounding tissues.
• Arteries
• three layers of a typical blood vessel- thick muscular-to-
elastic tunica media
• plentiful elastic fibers, -high compliance- walls stretch easily
or expand without tearing in response to a small increase in
pressure.
• Elastic Arteries
• largest arteries in the body,
• vessel walls -relatively thin compared with overall size of
vessel- internal and external elastic laminae,
• thick tunica media mostly elastic fibers- elastic lamellae
• E.g brachiocephalic, subclavian, common carotid, and
common iliac arteries
• Function: help propel blood onward while ventricles are
relaxing
• Muscular Arteries
• Medium-sized arteries– their tunica media contains more
smooth muscle and fewer elastic fibers than elastic arteries.
• Capable of greater vasoconstriction and vasodilation to
adjust rate of blood flow.
• In large arteries, the thick tunica media can have as many as
40 layers of circumferentially arranged smooth muscle cells;
in smaller arteries there are as few as three layers
• Arterioles
• abundant microscopic vessels- regulate flow of blood into the
capillary networks
• Approximately 400 million arterioles have diameters that
range in size from 15 m to 300 m.
• tunica interna- thin, with fenestrated (with small pores)
internal elastic lamina that disappears at terminal end.
• tunica media- one to two layers of smooth muscle cells
having a circular orientation in the vessel wall.
• Metarteriole- terminal end of the arteriole, tapers toward
capillary junction.
• precapillary sphincter – present at the metarteriole–capillary
junction- distil most cells monitors blood flow into capillary
• other muscle cells regulate the resistance (opposition) to
blood flow
• tunica -areolar connective tissue with abundant
unmyelinated sympathetic nerves.
• alter diameter of arterioles and thus vary rate of blood flow
and resistance through these vessels.
• regulating blood flow from arteries into capillaries by
regulating resistance (resistance vessels)
• Capillaries
• smallest of blood vessels, diameters of 5–10 m, form U-turns
that connect arterial outflow to venous return
• RBC must often fold on themselves in order to pass single file
through lumens of these vessels.
• Capillaries - 20 billion in number, of short branched,
interconnecting vessels that course among individual cells of
the body.
• Material and gaseous exchange takes place at it (exchange
vessels)
• found near almost every cell in the body, but their number
varies with the metabolic activity of the tissue
• muscles, the brain, the liver, the kidneys, and the nervous
system, use more O2 and nutrients and thus have extensive
capillary networks.
• Tendons and ligaments, contain fewer capillaries.
• Absent in a few tissues, such as all covering and lining
epithelia, cornea and lens of the eye, and cartilage.
• lack both a tunica media and a tunica externa.
• Single layer of endothelial cells and a basement membrane
• Blood flow due to intermittent contraction and relaxation of
smooth muscle of metarterioles and precapillary sphincters-
may occur 5 to 10 times per minute, is called vasomotion,
partly due to chemicals released by the endothelial cells
• The body contains three different types of capillaries:
• Continuous capillaries
• Fenestrated Capillaries
• Sinusoids
• Continuous Capillaries- Most capillaries-
• Plasma membranes of endothelial cells form a continuous
tube, interrupted only by intercellular clefts (gaps between
neighboring endothelial cells)
• Found in central nervous system, lungs, skin, muscle tissue,
skin
• Fenestrated Capillaries- Other capillaries
• plasma membranes of endothelial cells -small pores (holes)
ranging from 70 to 100 nm in diameter - kidneys, villi of the
small intestine, choroid plexuses of ventricles in brain, ciliary
processes of the eyes, and most endocrine glands
• Sinusoids wider and more winding than other capillaries
• Endothelial cells - unusually large fenestrations
• incomplete or absent basement membrane
• very large intercellular clefts- allow proteins and blood cells
to pass from a tissue into bloodstream- newly formed blood
cells enter bloodstream through the sinusoids of RBC
• E.g In liver, phagocytic cells that remove bacteria & other
debris from blood.
• spleen, anterior pituitary, and parathyroid and adrenal glands
Venules
• thin walls that do not readily maintain their shape.
• Venules drain capillary blood and begin the return flow of
blood back toward the heart.
• postcapillary venules- smallest venules, measuring 10 m to
50 m in diameter, and have loosely organized intercellular
junctions (weakest endothelial contacts) and are very porous
• sites of exchange of nutrients and wastes and white blood
cell emigration
• Away from capillaries venule acquire one or two layers of
circularly arranged smooth muscle cells muscular venules (50
m to 200 m) – no longer exchange occur.
• thin walls, distend considerably - allows to expand and serve
as excellent reservoirs for accumulating large volumes of
blood
• Blood volume increases of 360% have been measured in
postcapillary and muscular venules
Veins
• very thin walls relative to their total diameter-
• 0.5 mm in diameter (small veins)
• 3 cm in (large superior and interior venae cavae)
• composed of same three layers as arteries- relative
thicknesses of layers are different
• Compare to arteries- tunica interna -thinner; tunica media-
much thinner with little smooth muscle and elastic fibers,
• tunica externa- thickest layer and consists of collagen and
elastic fibers
• lack internal or external elastic laminae found in arteries
• Distensible- adapt to variations in volume and pressure of
blood, not withstand high pressure
• Many veins (limbs) also contain valves- thin folds of tunica
interna
• More numerous than arteries
• Double sets of veins escort arteries and connect with one
another via venous channels called anastomotic veins
• In upper limb, superficial veins are much larger than deep
veins and serve as major pathways from capillaries of upper
limb back to heart
• In the lower limb, opposite is true
• deep veins serve as principal return pathways
• In fact, one-way valves in small anastomosing vessels allow
blood to pass from superficial to deep veins, but prevent
blood from passing in reverse direction
• This design has important implications in development of
varicose veins
• Reference:
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