homeostasis

Homeostasis
Homeostasis literally means “same state”
(homeo) and it refers to the process of
keeping the internal body environment in a
steady state (stasis). The importance of this
cannot be over-stressed, and a great deal of
the hormone system and autonomic nervous
system is dedicated to homeostasis.
 Homeostasis
the maintenance of a constant internal
environment in response to changes in:
– The changing conditions of the
external environment.
– The changing conditions of the
internal environment.
Maintaining a constant internal environment
by providing the cells with what they need in
order to survive (oxygen, nutrients, and
removal of waste) is necessary for the well-
being of individual cells and of the entire
body. The many processes by which the
body controls its internal environment are
collectively called homeostasis.
The complementary activity of major body
systems maintains homeostasis. The
adjusting of systems within a cell is called
homeostatic regulation. Because the internal
and external environments of a cell are
constantly changing, adjustments must be
made continuously to stay at the normal
level.
Homeostasis (homeo= the same;
stasis= static/unchanging) is the
process by which animals
maintain their internal fluid
environment under conditions
their cells can tolerate.
 Maintaining homeostasis/Homeostasis Mechanisms

Homeostasis is maintained by a complex

system that consists of individual units
working in a particular sequence to
balance a given variable. All homeostasis
mechanisms consist of four separate
units.
feedback loops
 feedback loops
Feedback loop is defined as a
system used to control the level of a
variable in which there is an
identifiable receptor (sensor),
control center (integrator or
comparator), effectors, and methods
of communication.
 We use the following terminology to describe feedback loops:

• Variables are parameters that

are monitored and controlled or
affected by the feedback
system.
• Receptors (sensors) detect
changes in the variable.
• Control centers (integrators) compare the
variable in relation to a set point and signal
the effectors to generate a response.
Control centers sometimes consider
information other than just the level of the
variable in their decision-making, such as
time of day, age, external conditions, etc.
• Effectors execute the necessary changes
to adjust the variable.
 NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
Negative feedback loop is any homeostatic
process that changes the direction of the
stimulus. It may either increase or decrease the
stimulus, but the stimulus is not allowed to
continue as did before the receptor sensed it. In
other words, if a level is too high, the body does
something to bring it down, and conversely, if a
level is too low, the body does something to
make it go up.
 NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
When an animal has eaten, blood glucose levels rise.
This is sensed by the nervous system. Specialized
cells in the pancreas sense this, and the hormone
insulin is released by the endocrine system. Insulin
causes blood glucose levels to decrease. However,
if an animal has not eaten and blood glucose levels
decrease, this is sensed in another group of cells in
the pancreas, and the hormone glucagon is released
causing glucose levels to increase.
 NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
In a negative feedback loop, feedback
serves to reduce an excessive response
and keep a variable within the normal
range. Examples of processes controlled
by negative feedback include body
temperature regulation and control of
blood glucose.
 NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
In blood glucose regulation, the hormone
insulin plays a key role. When blood
sugar rises in the blood, insulin sends a
signal to the liver, muscles, and other
cells to store the excess glucose. Some
is stored as body fat and other is stored
as glycogen in the liver and muscles.
 NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
If the blood glucose level is too low,
the pancreas releases the hormone
glucagon. This travels to the liver in the
blood and causes the breakdown of
glycogen into glucose. Glucose enters
the blood stream, and glucose levels
increase back to normal.
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
 positive feedback
A positive feedback loop maintains the direction of
the stimulus, possibly accelerating it. Few
examples of positive feedback loops exist in animal
bodies, but one is found in the cascade of chemical
reactions that results in blood clotting, or
coagulation. As one clotting factor is activated, it
activates the next factor in sequence until a fibrin
clot is achieved.
 positive feedback
The direction is maintained, not changed,
so this is positive feedback. Another
example of positive feedback is uterine
contractions during childbirth. The
hormone oxytocin , made by the
endocrine system, stimulates the
contraction of the uterus.
 positive feedback
This produces pain sensed by the
nervous system. Instead of lowering
the oxytocin and causing the pain to
subside, more oxytocin is produced
until the contractions are powerful
enough to produce childbirth.
 positive feedback

In a positive feedback loop, feedback

serves to intensify a response until an
endpoint is reached. Examples of
processes controlled by positive
feedback in the human body include
blood clotting and childbirth.
positive
 compare

positive negative
A positive feedback loop maintains the Negative feedback loop is any
direction of the stimulus, possibly homeostatic process that changes the
accelerating it. Few examples of direction of the stimulus. It may either
positive feedback loops exist in animal increase or decrease the stimulus, but
bodies, but one is found in the cascade the stimulus is not allowed to continue
of chemical reactions that results in as did before the receptor sensed it. In
blood clotting, or coagulation. As one
other words, if a level is too high, the
clotting factor is activated, it activates
body does something to bring it down,
the next factor in sequence until a fibrin
and conversely, if a level is too low,
clot is achieved. The direction is
the body does something to make it
maintained, not changed, so this is
go up.
positive feedback.
 homeostatic mechanism
All body systems work together to maintain homeostasis.

a. Fighting Disease
Most animals have an immune system that can distinguish
between “self” and “other”. Once the immune system discovers
“others” in the body, it attacks the invaders and works to restore
homeostasis. Your body experiences this process regularly, any
time you catch a cold or fight off other kinds of infections. During
the process, you may develop a fever and feel other effects of
the battle going on within your body.
 homeostatic mechanism
All body systems work together to maintain homeostasis.

b. Chemical Controls
Vertebrates, such as the migrating wildebeest, along with
arthropods and many other invertebrates regulate many body
processes using a system of chemical controls. Endocrine glands
are part of that system. Endocrine glands regulate body activities
by releasing hormones into the blood. Some hormones control the
way the body stores energy or mobilizes it – as in the case of
wildebeests.
 homeostatic mechanism
c. Body Temperature Control
How do animals control their body temperature?
Control of body temperature is important for maintaining
homeostasis, particularly in areas where temperature varies
widely with time of day and with season. Why is temperature
control so important? Because many body functions are
influenced by temperature. For example, muscles cannot operate
if they are too cold or too hot. Cold muscles contract slowly,
making an animal slow to react. If muscles get too hot, on the
other hand, they may tire easily.
types of homeostatic
regulation
 Types of Homeostatic Regulation in the body
A number of homeostatic regulation
processes, that includes balancing the
chemical or physical parameters, take
place in the human body. Generally,
there are three types of homeostatic
regulation in the body, these are:
1. thermoregulation
 thermoregulation
It is coordinated by the nervous system. The
processes of temperature control are centered in
the hypothalamus of the advanced animal brain. The
hypothalamus maintains the set point for body
temperature through reflexes that cause
vasodilation or vasoconstriction and shivering or
sweating.
 thermoregulation
During an infection, compounds called pyrogen are produced
and circulate to the hypothalamus resetting the thermostat to
a higher value. This allows the body’s temperature to increase
to a new homeostatic equilibrium point in what is commonly
called a fever.
The increase in body heat makes the body less optimal for
bacterial growth and increases the activities of cells so they
are better able to fight the infection.
 thermoregulation
An animal may be described based on the structures and
behaviors that enable it to control its body temperature.
a. Ectotherms - animals that do not have internal control of
their body.
- the body temperature is generally like the temperature of
the environment, although the individual organisms may do
things that keep their bodies slightly below or above the
environmental temperature.
 thermoregulation
This can include burrowing underground on a hot day or
resting in the sunlight on a cold day.
- have relatively low metabolic rates when resting, so their
bodies do not generate much heat.
- most reptiles, invertebrates, fishes, and amphibians
are ectotherms that regulate body temperature
primarily by absorbing heat from, or losing heat to,
their environment.
 thermoregulation
b. Endotherms – animals that maintain a constant body
temperature in the face of environmental changes.
- they can maintain a level of activity because they
generate internal heat that keeps their cellular processes
operating optimally even when the environment is cold.
- Birds and mammals have high metabolic rates that
generate heat, even when they are resting.
thermoregulation
2. osmoregulation
 Osmotic Balance
Osmosis is the diffusion of water across
a membrane in response to osmotic
pressure caused by an imbalance of
molecules on either side of the
membrane, Osmoregulation is the
process of maintenance of salt and water
balance(osmotic balance)
across membranes within the body
fluids, which are composed of water,
plus electrolytes and non-electrolytes.
An electrolyte is a solute that
dissociates into ions during water
dissolution. Both electrolytes and non-
electrolytes contribute to the osmotic
balance.
The body’s fluids include blood plasma,
the cytosol within the cell, and interstitial
fluid that exists in the spaces between
cells and tissues of the body. The
membranes of the body are semi-
permeable membranes which permits
certain types of solutes and water to
pass through.
Biological systems constantly
interact and exchange water and
nutrients with the environment
by way of consumption of food
and water and through excretion
in the form of sweat, urine and
feces.
Without a mechanism to
regulate osmotic pressure, or
when a disease damages the
mechanism, there is a tendency
to accumulate toxic waste and
water, which can have dire
consequences
A person lost at sea without any fresh
water to drink are at risk of severe
dehydration because human body cannot
adapt to drinking sea water, which is
hypertonic in comparison to body fluids.
Organisms such as goldfish that can
tolerate only a relatively wide range of
salinity are referred to as euryhaline
organisms.
This is possible because some fish have
evolved osmoregulatory mechanisms to
survive in all kinds of aquatic
environments. Fishes are
osmoregulators, but must use different
mechanisms to survive in (a)
Freshwater od (b) saltwater
environment. changes in sea water
concentration.
 OSMOREGULATION
Is the process of maintaining salt
and water balance (osmotic
balance) across membranes within
the body? The fluids inside and
surrounding cells are composed of
water, electrolytes, and non-
electrolytes.
An electrolyte is a compound
that dissociates into ions
when dissolved in water. A
nonelectrolyte, in contrast,
does not dissociate into ions
in water.
Homeostasis is normally
maintained in the human body
by an extremely complex
balancing act. Regardless of
the variable being kept within
its normal range
maintaining homeostasis
requires at least four
interacting components:
stimulus, sensor, control
center, and effector.
 Homeostatic control
The control of blood glucose is an
excellent example of homeostatic
control via negative feedback. This is
where the corrective response,
triggered by a deviation from normal
levels, is turned off by a return to
normal levels.
For example, low blood glucose
results in the production of glucagon
and this raises blood glucose.
Consequently, as glucose levels rise,
the stimulation to produce glucagon
is turned off.
1. Stimulus
• The stimulus is something that results in changes within
the system involving the variable.
• The stimulus represents that the variable has moved
away from its normal range, initiating the process of
homeostasis.
• One example of this is the increased temperature of the
body above 37°C due to various causes. The increased
temperature indicates that the temperature of the body
has gone higher than its higher range.
2. Sensor/ Receptor
• The sensor or receptor is the sensing unit of
homeostasis, where it monitors and responds to the
changes in the body.
• The changes in the system are realized by the
sensor, which then sends the information to the
control unit.
• The nerve cells and receptors like thermoreceptors
and mechanoreceptors are examples of sensor/
receptors.
3. Control unit
• Once the information is sent to the control unit,
it tallies the changed value to its normal value.
• If the value is different from the normal value,
the control center activates the effectors against
the stimulus.
• The thermoregulatory unit in the hypothalamus
of the brain that controls the temperature of the
body is an example of the control unit.
4. Effector
• Effectors can be muscles, organs, glands,
or other similar structures that are
activated as a result of the signal from the
control unit.
• An effector is a target which is acted upon
by the control unit to bring the value of
variable back to normal.
• The effector essentially counteracts the
stimulus to nullify its effect.
• In the case of thermoregulation, the
sweat glands are effectors that are acted
upon by the thermoregulatory unit to
produce sweat so as to bring the value of
body temperature back to its normal value.
3. chemicAL REGULATION
3. Chemical regulation is the process of
balancing the concentration of chemicals
like glucose and carbon dioxide in the
body by producing hormones. During this
process, the concentration of hormones
like insulin increases when the blood
sugar level increases, this is done in order
to bring the level back to normal.
A similar process is observed in the respiratory system, where the
rate of breathing increases as the concentration of carbon dioxide
increases.

A. Acid-Base Homeostasis- the process of regulating the pH

value of the intracellular and extracellular fluids in the
body.

B. Glucose Homeostasis- the process of maintaining a

desirable level of glucose in the blood by the opposing and
balanced action of insulin and glucagon hormones.
C. Calcium homeostasis- the process of balancing the level
of calcium in the body.

D. Fluid Homeostasis- the process of maintaining the

concentration of water and electrolyte in various bodily
fluids.
E. Blood pressure homeostasis- the process of maintaining
blood pressure in the heart and blood vessels.
QUIZ TIME!!