Internal Transport (Blood & Circulation)

The Circulatory System

 The circulatory system is a system of blood vessels with a pump and

valves to ensure one-way flow of blood.

Circulation in Fish

The single circulatory system in fish

 Mammals have a four-chambered heart and a double circulation.

  This means that for every one circuit of the body, the blood passes through
the heart twice.

 The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the body
and pumps it to the lungs (the pulmonary circulation).

 The left side of the heart receives oxygenated blood from the lungs
and pumps it to the body (the systemic circulation).

The double circulatory system in mammals

In double circulation the blood passes through the heart twice. One is the
Pulmonary Circulation, where the deoxygenated blood is carried to the lungs
through the pulmonary artery where they are oxygenated and returned to the
heart as oxygenated blood through the pulmonary vien.Secondary circulation
involve the oxygenated blood being pumped to all parts of the body through the
Aorta and deoxygenated blood returned through the Vena Cava.
Heart Structure: Basics

 The heart is labelled as if it was in the chest so what is your left on a

diagram is actually the right hand side and vice versa.

 The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated blood from the body and
pumps it to the lungs;

 The left side of the heart receives oxygenated blood from the lungs and
pumps it to the body.

 Blood is pumped towards the heart in veins and away from the heart
in arteries.

 The two sides of the heart are separated by a muscle wall called the septum.

 The heart is made of muscle tissue which are supplied with blood by
the coronary arteries.

 The ventricles have thicker muscle walls than the atria as they are pumping
blood out of the heart and so need to generate a higher pressure

 The left ventricle has a thicker muscle wall than the right ventricle as it has
to pump blood at high pressure around the entire body, whereas the right
ventricle is pumping blood at lower pressure to the lungs

 The septum separates the two sides of the heart and so prevents mixing of
oxygenated and deoxygenated blood

The Function of Valves

 The basic function of all valves is to prevent blood flowing backwards

 There are two sets of valves in the heart:

 The atrioventricular valves separate the atria from the ventricles

 The valve in the right side of the heart is called the TRICUSPID and the
valve in the left side is called the BICUSPID

 These valves are pushed open when the atria contract but when the
ventricles contract they are pushed shut to prevent blood flowing back into
the atria

 The semilunar valves are found in the two blood arteries that come out of
the top of the heart

 They are unusual in that they are the only two arteries in the body that
contain valves

 These valves open when the ventricles contract so blood squeezes past them
out of the heart, but then shut to avoid blood flowing back into the heart.
Exercise & Heart Rate

 Heart activity can be monitored by using an ECG, measuring pulse

rate or listening to the sounds of valves closing using a stethoscope

 Heart rate (and pulse rate) is measured in beats per minute (bpm)

 To investigate the effects of exercise on heart rate, record the pulse rate at
rest for a minute

 Immediately after they do some exercise, record the pulse rate every minute
until it returns to the resting rate

 This experiment will show that during exercise the heart rate increases and
may take several minutes to return to normal.

Why does Heart Rate Increase during Exercise?

So that sufficient blood is taken to the working muscles to provide them with
enough nutrients and oxygen for increased respiration

An increase in heart rate also allows for waste products to be removed at a

faster rate

Following exercise, the heart continues to beat faster for a while to ensure that
all excess waste products are removed from muscle cells

It is also likely that muscle cells have been respiring anaerobically during
exercise and so have built up an oxygen debt

This needs to be ‘repaid’ following exercise and so the heart continues to beat
faster to ensure that extra oxygen is still being delivered to muscle cells

The extra oxygen is used to break down the lactic acid that has been built up in
cells as a result of anaerobic respiration
Coronary Heart Disease

 The heart is made of muscle cells that need their own supply of blood to
deliver oxygen, glucose and other nutrients and remove carbon dioxide and
other waste products

 The blood is supplied by the coronary arteries

 If a coronary artery becomes partially or completely blocked by fatty

deposits called ‘plaques’ (mainly formed from cholesterol), the arteries are
not as elastic as they should be and therefore cannot stretch to
accommodate the blood which is being forced through them – leading
to coronary heart disease

 Partial blockage of the coronary arteries creates a restricted blood flow to

the cardiac muscle cells and results in severe chest pains called angina

 Complete blockage means cells in that area of the heart will not be able to
respire and can no longer contract, leading to a heart attack.
Prevention & Treatment

Reducing the risks of developing coronary heart disease

 Quit smoking

 Reduce animal fats in diet and eat more fruits and vegetables – this will
reduce cholesterol levels in the blood and help with weight loss if overweight

 Exercise regularly – again, this will help with weight loss, decrease blood
pressure and cholesterol levels and help reduce stress

Treatment of coronary heart disease

 Aspirin can be taken daily to reduce the risk of blood clots forming in
arteries

 Surgical treatments include:

1. Angioplasty

o A narrow catheter (tube) is threaded through the groin up to the

blocked vessel

o A tiny balloon inserted into the catheter is pushed up to the blocked

vessel and then inflated

o This flattens the plaque against the wall of the artery, clearing the
blockage

o To keep the artery clear, a stent (piece of metal / plastic mesh) is also
inserted which pushes against the wall of the artery

o Sometimes the stent is coated with a drug that slowly releases

medication to prevent further build-up of plaque.
Coronary bypass surgery

o A piece of blood vessel is taken from the patient’s leg, arm, or chest
and used to create a new passage for the flow of blood to the cardiac
muscle, bypassing the blocked area

o The number of bypass grafts gives rise to the name of the surgery, so
a ‘triple heart bypass’ would mean three new bypass grafts being
attached.
Arteries, Veins & Capillaries

Arteries

 Carry blood at high pressure away from the heart

 Carry oxygenated blood (other than the pulmonary artery)

 Have thick muscular walls containing elastic fibres

 Have a narrow lumen

 Speed of flow is fast

Veins

 Carry blood at low pressure towards the heart

 Carry deoxygenated blood (other than the pulmonary vein)

 Have thin walls

 Have a large lumen

 Contain valves

 Speed of flow is slow

Capillaries

 Carry blood at low pressure within tissues

 Carry both oxygenated and deoxygenated blood
 Have walls that are one cell thick
 Have ‘leaky’ walls
 Speed of flow is slow
How Structure of Blood Vessels is Adapted to their Function

Arteries

Have thick muscular walls containing elastic fibers to withstand high pressure of
blood and maintain the blood pressure as it recoils after the blood has passed
through

Have a narrow lumen to maintain high pressure

Veins

 Have a large lumen as blood pressure is low

 Contain valves to prevent the backflow of blood as it is under low pressure

Capillaries

 Have walls that are one cell thick so that substances can easily diffuse in and
out of them

 Have ‘leaky’ walls so that blood plasma can leak out and form tissue fluid
surrounding cells.

Arterioles & Venules

As arteries divide more as they get further away from the heart, they get
narrower

The narrow vessels that connect arteries to capillaries are called arterioles

Veins also get narrower the further away they are from the heart

The narrow vessels that connect capillaries to veins are called venules.
Lymph Fluid

 The walls of the capillaries are so thin that water, dissolved solutes and
dissolved gases easily leak out of them / pass through the walls from the
plasma into the tissue fluid surrounding the cells

 Cells exchange materials (such as water, oxygen, glucose, carbon dioxide,

mineral ions) across their cell membranes with the tissue fluid surrounding
them by diffusion, osmosis or active transport

 More fluid leaks out of the capillaries than is returned to them, and this
excess of leaked fluid surrounding the capillaries then passes into the
lymphatic system, becoming lymph fluid.
 Lymph Vessels & Nodes

 The lymphatic system is formed from a series of tubes which flow from
tissues back to the heart

 It connects with the blood system near to the heart, where lymph fluid
is returned to the blood plasma

 Lymph nodes are small clusters of lymphatic tissue found throughout the
lymphatic system, especially in the neck and armpits

 Large numbers of lymphocytes are found in lymph nodes

 Tissues associated with the lymphatic system, such as bone marrow, produce
these lymphocytes

 Lymphocytes play an important role in defending the body against infection

Components of Blood

Blood consists of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma.
Types of White Blood Cell

 White blood cells are part of the body’s immune system, defending against
infection by pathogenic microorganisms

 There are two main types, phagocytes and lymphocytes

Phagocytes

 Carry out phagocytosis by engulfing and digesting pathogens

Phagocytosis

 Phagocytes have a sensitive cell surface membrane that can detect chemicals
produced by pathogenic cells

 Once they encounter the pathogenic cell, they will engulf it and release
digestive enzymes to digest it

 They can be easily recognized under the microscope by their multi-lobed

nucleus and their granular cytoplasm

Lymphocytes

 Produce antibodies to destroy pathogenic cells and antitoxins to neutralize

toxins released by pathogens.
 They can easily be recognized under the microscope by their large round
nucleus which takes up nearly the whole cell and their clear, non-granular
cytoplasm.

Functions of the Parts of the Blood

Plasma is important for the transport of carbon dioxide, digested food

(nutrients), urea, mineral ions, hormones and heat energy

Red blood cells transport oxygen around the body from the lungs to cells which
require it for aerobic respiration

They carry the oxygen in the form of oxyhaemoglobin

White blood cells defend the body against infection by pathogens by carrying
out phagocytosis and antibody production

Platelets are involved in helping the blood to clot.

Blood Clotting

 Platelets are fragments of cells which are involved in blood clotting and
forming scabs where skin has been cut or punctured

 Blood clotting prevents continued / significant blood loss from wounds

 Scab formation seals the wound with an insoluble patch that prevents entry
of microorganisms that could cause infection

 It remains in place until new skin has grown underneath it, sealing the skin
again

 When the skin is broken (i.e. there is a wound) platelets arrive to stop the
bleeding

 A series of reactions occur within the blood plasma

 Platelets release chemicals that cause soluble fibrinogen proteins to convert
into insoluble fibrin and form an insoluble mesh across the wound, trapping
red blood cells and therefore forming a clot

 The clot eventually dries and develops into a scab to protect the wound from
bacteria entering