BASIC CONCEPTS OF

HUMAN BODY
FUNCTIONS
31/10/2023
Related tasks
• Define the term physiology
• Explain homeostasis and homeostatic control
systems
• Describe the structure and functioning of a
cell
• Describe transport of substances across cell
membranes
Definition of
terms
Definition of terms
• Physiology
– The science that seeks to explain the physical and chemical mechanisms
that are responsible for the origin, development and progression of life

• Sub-division of physiology
– Viral physiology
– Bacterial physiology
– Cellular physiology
– Plant physiology
– Invertebrate physiology
– Vertebrate physiology
– Human physiology
Definition of terms
• Human Physiology
Is the study that explains the specific
characteristics and mechanisms of the human
body that make it a living being
Homeostasis and
homeostatic
control systems
Homeostasis
 The ability of a system or living organism to
adjust its internal environment to maintain
a stable equilibrium, such as the ability of
warm-blooded animals to maintain a
constant body temperature
 Homeostasis regulates an organism ‘s internal
environment and maintains a stable, constant
condition of properties like temperature and
pH.
Homeostatic control systems
• Homeostasis is often achieved in the body
through the use of feedback loops that
regulate the body’s internal circumstances.

• A feedback loop is a system that uses three

interdependent components as identified
– receptor (sensor or detector),
– the control center (integrator or comparator or
regulator),
– effectors
Homeostatic control systems
• A stimulus is any physical, chemical or environmental factors or
disturbance that causes deviation of normal body’s environment

• A sensor or receptor detects changes in the internal or external

environment.
– An example is peripheral chemoreceptors, which detect changes in
blood pH

• The integrating center or control center receives information

from the sensors and initiates the response to maintain
homeostasis.
– The most important example is the hypothalamus, a region of the brain
that controls everything from body temperature to heart rate, blood
pressure, satiety (fullness), and circadian rhythms (sleep and wake
cycles).
Homeostatic control systems
• An effector is any organ or tissue that receives
information from the integrating center and acts
to bring about the changes needed to maintain
homeostasis.
– One example is the kidney, which retains water if
blood pressure is too low

• Response is the reaction to the stimulus.

– It is a corrective measures toward the disturbance
– It can oppose or enhance the stimulus
Homeostatic control systems
• All the physiological process have their own
reference point or setup point.
• Any deviation from reference point activates
the control system.
• The control system after optimizing the
physiological process to its reference point is
always feed backed
• The control system is known as feed-back
mechanism
• Feedback Mechanism: It is the general mechanism of
nervous or hormonal control and regulation in Human.

• Feedback system consists of a cycle of events in which

information about a change is fed back into the system
so that the regulator (brain) can control the process.

• There are two forms of feed-back mechanism

– Negative feed-back mechanism
– Positive feed-back mechanism
Negative feed-back mechanism
• The receptors (sensory cells) present on the body of
vertebrates constantly monitors the reference point of internal
environment.
• Any changes in the internal environment can activates the
receptor cells, which relay messages to the control center
(Brain or spinal cord).
• The control center determines the deviation and activates the
effectors.
• Effectors are generally muscles or glands.
• The effectors respond to the stimulus and corrects the
reference point either by increasing or decreasing the activities.
• As soon as the system is corrected, the control center and
effectors are turned off by the mechanism called Negative feed-
back
Example of NF
• When blood pressure is low, the sensors located in the
blood vessels called baroreceptors will detect the change
in the BP and will send a signal to the hypothalamus.
• The hypothalamus (integrated centre/control centre)
then sends a message to the heart, blood vessels, and
kidneys, which act as effectors in blood pressure
regulation.
– The heart will increase its heart rate
– Blood vessels will constrict , and
– kidney will retain more water
• These changes would cause the blood pressure to return
to its normal range
Example of NF

• If blood pressure is too high,

• the heart rate decreases
• the blood vessels increase in diameter ( vasodilation ),
and
• the kidneys retain less water.
– These changes would cause the blood pressure to
return to its normal range.
Another example of NF
• Lower concentration of thyroxine hormone in blood alters the
cellular activities ie. decrease in basic metabolic rates or
temperature.
• Decreases in BMR stimulates neurosecretory cells of
hypothalamus to secrete thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH).
• The releasing of TRH causes anterior pituitary gland to secrete
thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
• This TSH then stimulates the thyroid gland to release thyroxine.
• Thyroxin causes an increase in the metabolic activity,
generating ATP energy and heat and eventually restore
homeostasis.
• Both the raised body temperature and higher thyroxine levels
in the body feed-back to inhibit the releasing of TRH and TSH
Temperature control
Example of a NF loop
• The hypothalamus secretes corticotropin-releasing
hormone (CRH)
• The CRH directs the anterior pituitary gland to secrete
adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH).
• ACTH directs the adrenal cortex to secrete
glucocorticoids, such as cortisol.
• Glucocorticoids will perform their respective functions
throughout the body but also prevent further
stimulating secretions of both the hypothalamus and
the pituitary gland
• Most human system achieve homeostasis by
Negative feed-back mechanism.
• Body temperature, blood glucose level, Blood
PH, Blood pressure, Hormone level, Oxygen
and Carbon-dioxide level, water and
electrolyte balance are all controlled by
negative feed-back
 Positive feedback mechanism
• Positive feedback is a mechanism in which an output is
enhanced in order to maintain homeostasis.
• Positive feedback mechanisms are designed to accelerate or
enhance the output created by a stimulus that has already
been activated.
• Positive feedback mechanisms are designed to push levels out
of normal ranges.
• To achieve this, a series of events initiates a cascading process
that builds to increase the effect of the stimulus.
• This process can be beneficial but is rarely used because it may
become uncontrollable.
– A positive feedback example is blood platelet accumulation and
aggregation, which in turn causes blood clotting in response to an
injury of the blood vessels
• Positive feedback mechanism causes destabilizing
effects in the body, so does not results in homeostasis.

• It is mainly responsible for amplification of the

changes caused by the stimulus

• Positive feedback is relatively less common than

negative feedback, since it leads to unstable condition
and extreme state.
• Most positive feedback mechanisms are harmful and in some
cases resulting in death.

• For example, if a person breathes air that has very high carbon
dioxide content.

• The amount of oxygen in blood decreases while the

concentration of carbon-dioxide in blood increases.

• This is sensed by carbon dioxide receptors, which cause the

breathing rate to increase.

• So the person breathes faster, taking in more carbon dioxide,

which stimulates the receptors even more, so they breathe
• In some cases, the positive feed-back is very useful.
• Such as during blood clotting, fever, child birth, breast
feeding etc.
• Positive feedback also plays a role in the contractions of the
uterus during child birth.
• The contraction of uterine wall is caused by oxytocin
hormone.
• In this case, stretching of the uterus by the fetus stimulates
oxytocin release which results in contraction of uterus, and
contraction causes further stretching and release of
oxytocin; the cycle continues until the fetus is expelled
from the uterus
Structure and functioning of a cell

• Assignment
Transport of substances across cell membranes

• Cell membrane is a phospholipid bilayer that

regulates the entry and exit of molecules.
Diffusion, osmosis and active transport are
some forms of transport seen across the cell
membrane.
Movement of Substances Across Cell
Membrane

• There are two major methods for moving

molecules across a membrane, based on
whether or not cell energy is used.
– Passive mechanisms require no energy to
function
– Active transport require energy
Passive transport
• In passive transport, an ion or molecule crosses
the membrane and moves down its
concentration or electrochemical gradient.

• The different types of passive transport

mechanisms across cell membranes are :
– Simple diffusion
– Facilitated diffusion
– Osmosis
Diffusion
• Diffusion is a spontaneous process in which a
substance moves from a region of high
concentration to a region of low
concentration, eventually eliminating the
concentration difference between the two
regions.
 Simple Diffusion
• This is the transport of molecules across the plasma membrane that
occurs unaided

• A small molecule in an aqueous solution dissolves into the

phospholipid bilayer, crosses it, and then dissolves into the aqueous
solution on the opposite side during simple diffusion.

• The relative rate of molecule diffusion across the phospholipid bilayer

is proportional to the concentration gradient across the membrane

• Examples of simple diffusion are

– Movement of molecules of gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen
– Movement of small molecules like ethanol that enter the cell by crossing
the cell membrane without the assistance of any permease.
Facilitated Diffusion
• This is a type of passive transport in which molecules that cross
the cell membrane move quickly due to the presence of specific
permeases in the membrane.

• Facilitated diffusion occurs only in the direction of a

concentration gradient and does not require metabolic energy.

• It has the following characteristics:

– The rate of molecule transport across the membrane is faster than in
simple diffusion
– Each facilitated diffusion protein transports only one type of molecule
(protein-specific process)
– There is a maximum rate of transport, which means that when the
concentration gradient of molecules across the membrane is low,
increasing the concentration gradient results in an increase in the rate
Osmosis
• Water molecules can transport through the cell
membrane.
• The movement of water molecules through the
cell membrane is caused by differences in the
concentration of the solute on its two sides.
• Osmosis is the process by which water molecules
pass through a membrane from a region of
higher water concentration to a region of lower
water concentration.
Osmosis
• The process by which water molecules enter the cell is
known as endosmosis, whereas the process by which
water molecules exit the cell is known as exosmosis

• When two compartments of different solute

concentrations are separated by a semipermeable
membrane, the compartment with higher solute
concentration is called hypertonic relative to the
compartment of lower solute concentration, which is
described as hypotonic.
• If a cell is placed in a hypotonic solution, it rapidly gains water by
osmosis and swells.
– Conversely, a cell placed into a hypertonic solution rapidly loses water
by osmosis and shrinks

• When the internal solute concentration equals the external

solute concentration, it is said to be isotonic. Here, no net
movement of water in or out of the cells occurs.

• The amount of water contained within the cell creates a

pressure termed hydrostatic pressure (osmotic pressure).

• The cell membrane regulates the osmotic pressures of

intracellular and intercellular fluids
Active Transport
• Active transport is a kind of cellular transport in
which substances like amino acids, glucose and ions
are transported across cell membranes to a region
that already has a high concentration of such
substances.
• As a result, active transport employs chemical energy
like ATP to move substances against their
concentration gradient.
• This type of transport is commonly found in the small
intestine wall and root hair cells.
• Active transport is performed by a special
type of protein molecules of the cell
membrane called the transport proteins or
pumps.
• They consume energy in the form of ATP
molecules
Primary Active Transport
• The two sources of energy for primary active
transport are the photon energy and redox energy.

• An example of primary active transport using redox

energy is the mitochondrial electron transport
chain, which uses the reduction energy of NADH to
transport protons across the inner membrane of
mitochondria against their concentration gradient.

• Primary active transport is demonstrated by

glucose uptake in the human intestine
Secondary Active Transport
• Secondary active transport allows one solute to move
downward (along its electrochemical potential gradient) in
order to generate enough entropic energy to drive the transport
of the other solute upward (from a low concentration region to
a high concentration region).
• This is also known as coupled transport.
• There are two types of coupled transport – antiport and
symport.
• Antiport transport involves the movement of two ion or other
solute species in opposite directions across a membrane,
whereas symport transport involves the movement of two
species in the same direction.
Questions
The term physiology refers to
A. The science that explains the physical and chemical mechanisms
responsible for the origin, development and progression of life
B. The science that explains the interaction of matter and their
surroundings in the human body
C. The science that explains how chemical reactions occur within
unicellular organisms and how they affect life of an organism
D. The science that deals with the physical interactions of elements
occurring
E. The science that deals with the radiochemical reactions of body
processes
Which of the following is the best description of the
term homeostasis?
A. Maintenance of body functions at the higher levels
B. Maintenance of body functions at the optimum
level at all times
C. Keeping the body in balance
D. Maintenance of body functions within normal limits
E. Maintenance of body functions at the sub-normal
levels
Cell organelles that absorb and neutralize
drugs and toxins are:
A. Lysosomes
B. Peroxisomes
C. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum
D. Nuclei
E. Endocytic vesicles
Haemolysis (breaking of blood cells) may
occur if a blood cell is placed in
A. Homotonic solution
B. Isotonic solution
C. Hypotonic solution
D. Salt solution
E. Hypertonic solution
The three interdependent components of a
feedback loop are:
A. Receptor, control centre and effectors
B. Receptor, sensor and detector
C. Control centre, integrator and regulator
D. Receptor, sensor and effectors
E. Effectors, regulator and control centre
Regarding the homeostatic control systems
A. ………. A stimulus is any physical, chemical or environmental
factors that causes deviation of normal body’s environment
B. …….. A sensor detects changes in the internal or external
environment
C. …….. The control center receives information from the sensors
and initiates the response to maintain homeostasis
D. ……… A good example of the control centre is the hypothalamus
E. …….. Peripheral chemoreceptors detect changes in blood pH
Regarding the feedback mechanisms:
• …… Regulation of body temperature by sweating
involves negative feedback
• ………. Childbirth is a good example of positive
feedback
• ………. Uncontrolled bleeding is a good example of
homeostasis
• ………. A fever in response to infection is a good way
of maintaining homeostasis
• ………… The nervous system controls all homeostasis
Passive transport mechanisms across cell
membranes include:
• ………… Simple diffusion
• ………… Facilitated diffusion
• ……….. Osmosis
• ……….. mitochondrial electron transport
chain
• ……….. glucose uptake in human intestines
SECTION E: Essay questions
1. With the aid of a sketched diagram, describe
functions of any four cell organelles
2. Describe the process of homestasis
occurring in the human body when the body
temperature is 40 degrees Celsius.