ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY I (ANA 241)

BODY CAVITIES

A body cavity is any space or compartment in the human body. Cavities accommodate organs
and other structures; cavities as potential spaces contain fluid.

The two largest human body cavities are the ventral body cavity and the dorsal body cavity.
The dorsal body cavity includes the cranial cavity, enclosed by skull and contains the brain, and
the spinal cavity, enclosed by the spine and includes the spinal cord. The ventral cavity includes
the thoracic cavity, enclosed by the ribcage and contains lungs and heart; abdominopelvic cavity.
The abdominopelvic cavity can be divided into the abdominal cavity enclosed by ribcage and
pelvis and contains the kidneys, ureters, stomach, intestine, liver, gallbladder and pancreas; and
the pelvic cavity, enclosed by the pelvis and contains bladder, anus and reproductive system.

VENTRAL BODY CAVITY

The diaghram divides the thoracic and abdominal cavities. The pelvic cavity lies under the
abdominal cavity and together they are called ‘abdominopelvic cavity’, while the thoracic and
abdominal and pelvic cavities are referred to as the ‘ventral cavity’. The abdominopelvic cavity
is the largest cavity in the body.

DORSAL BODY CAVITY

The cranial cavity is a large, bean shaped cavity filling most of the upper skull where the brain is
located. While the spinal cavity is a very narrow, thread like cavity running from the cranial
cavity down the entire length of the spinal cord. Together the cranial and the spinal cavity are
referred as ‘the dorsal cavity’. The cranial cavity houses the brain, and the spinal cavity houses
the spinal cord.

FUNCTION

These cavities contain and protect delicate internal organs, and the ventral cavity allows for
significant changes in the size and shape of the organs as they perform their functions. For
example the lungs, heart, stomach, and intestines can expand and contract without distorting
other tissues or disrupting the activity of nearby organs.
BODY FLUIDS

The body is formed by solids and fluids. Fluid part is more than two third of the whole body.
Water forms most of the fluid part of the body.

In human beings, the total body water varies from 45 to 75% of body weight. Gender difference
in body water is noticed only after puberty. In adult females, water is less because of more
amount of subcutaneous adipose tissue. Water content is more in thin person than in obese. The
total quantity of body water in an average person weighing 70kg is about 40L.

COMPARTMENTS OF BODY FLUIDS

The total water in the body is about 40L. It is distributed into two major compartments:

A. Intracellular fluid (ICF): Its volume is 22L and it forms 55% of the total body water.
B. Extracellular fluid (ECF): Its volume is 18L and it forms 45% of total body water.
ECF is divided into five sub-units:
I. Interstitial fluid and lymph (20%)
ii. Plasma (7.5%)
iii. Fluid in bones (7.5%)
iv. Fluid in dense connective tissue (7.5%)
v. Transcellular fluid (2.5%) that includes:
a. Cerebrospinal fluid
b. Intraocular fluid
c. Digestive juices
d. Serous fluid (intrapleural fluid, pericardial fluid and peritoneal fluid).
e. Synovial fluid in joints.
f. Fluid in urinary tract.

Volume of interstitial fluid is 12L. Volume of plasma is about 2.75L. Volume of other subunits
of ECF is about 3.25L. Water moves between different compartment.

CONTENT OF ICF AND ECF

Body fluid contains inorganic substance like sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride,
bicarbonate, phosphate and sulfate.

ECF contains large quantity of sodium, chloride, bicarbonate, glucose, fatty acids and oxygen.

ICF contains large quantities of potassium, magnesium, phosphate, sulfate and proteins. The pH
of ECF is 7.4 while that of ICF is 7.0.
HEMEOSTASIS

Homeostasis mean keeping condition in the internal environment constant (hemeo=same;

stasis=standing). The normal healthy living organism depends upon the constant maintenance of
internal environment within narrow limits of changes in the chemical and physical properties.
Any deviation from the set limits body suffers from dysfunction. Extreme dysfunction leads to
death, whereas moderate dysfunction leads to sickness. Most biological systems in the body
work either directly or indirectly to maintain homeostasis.

OSMOREGULATION

Osmosis is defined as the movement of water or any other solvent from a region of lower
concentration to an area of higher concentration of a solute, through a semipermeable membrane.
The semipermeable membrane permits the passage of only water or other solvents, but not the
solute. Osmoregulation is the process of maintenance of salt and water balance (osmotic
balance) across membrane within the body fluids, which are composed of water plus electrolyte
and non-electrolyte. Osmosis depends upon osmotic pressure.

Osmotic pressure is the pressure created by solutes in a fluid. During osmosis, when water or any
other solvent moves from the area of lower conc to area of higher conc, the solutes in the higher
conc get dissolved in the solvent, this creates the osmotic pressure. We have two types of
osmotic pressure;

i. Reverse osmotic pressure is a process in which water or other solvent flows in reverse
direction (from the area of higher conc to area of lower conc of the solute), if an external
pressure is applied on the area of higher conc.

ii.Oncotic pressure/ colloidal osmotic pressure is part of the osmotic pressure created by larger
colloidal substances particularly proteins.

IMPORTANCE OF OSMOREGULATION

Complex multicellular animals exchange water and nutrients with the environment by
consuming food and water and excreting waste products, when disease or injury damage the
mechanisms that regulate osmotic pressure, toxic waste will accumulate, with potentially dire
consequences. Mammalian systems have evolved to regulate osmotic pressure by managing
concentrations of electrolytes found in ECF, ICF and blood plasma.
BODY TISSUE

The term tissue is used to describe a group of cells found together in the body. The cells within a
tissue share a common embryonic origin. Microscopic observation reveals that the cells in a
tissue share morphological features and are arranged in an orderly pattern that achieves the
tissues functions.

A disruption of tissue structure can be detected through ‘histology’, which is the microscopic
study of tissue appearance, organization and function. Although there are many types of cells in
the human body, they are organized into four broad categories of tissue.

1. Epithelial tissue: Also referred to as epithelium, refers to the sheets of cells that cover
exterior surfaces of the body, lines internal cavities and passageways, and forms certain
glands.
2. Connective tissues: As its name implies, binds the cells and organs of the body together
and functions in the protection, support and integration of all part of the body.
3. Muscle tissue: muscle tissue is excitable, responding to stimulation and contraction to
provide movement, and occurs as three major types; skeletal (voluntary) muscle, smooth
muscle and cardiac muscle in the heart.
4. Nervous tissue: it is also excitable, allowing the propagation of electrochemical signals in
the form of nerve impulses that communicate between different regions of the body e.g.
brain, nerve & spinal cord.

TISSUE MEMBRANE

A tissue membrane is a thin layer or sheet of cells that covers the outside of the body e.g. skin,
the organs e.g. pericardium, internal passageways that leads to the exterior of the body e.g.
abdominal mesenteries, and the lining of the moveable joint cavities. There are two basic types
of tissue membranes;

1. Connective tissue membrane: the connective tissue membrane is formed solely from
connective tissue. These membranes encapsulated organs, such as the kidneys, and line
the movable joints. A synovial membrane is a type of connective tissue membrane that
lines the cavity of a freely movable joint.
2. Epithelial membranes: it is composed of epithelium attached to a layer of connective
tissue, for example, the skin.

The mucous membrane is also composite of connective and epithelial tissues. These
epithelial membranes sometimes called ‘mucosae’ lines the body cavities and hollow
passageways that open to the external environment, and include the digestive, respiratory,
excretory, and reproductive tracts. Mucous produced by the epithelial exocrine glands, covers
 the epithelial layer. The underlying connective tissue called lamina propria help support the
fragile epithelial layer.

A serous membrane is an epithelial membrane composed of mesodermally derived epithelium

called the mesothelium that is supported by connective tissue. These membrane lines the
coelomic cavities of the body, meaning those cavities that do not open to the outside, and they
cover the organs located within those cavities. The serous fluid secreted by the cells lubricate the
membrane and reduces abrasion and friction between organs.

The skin is an epithelial membrane also called cutaneous membrane. It is a stratified squamous
epithelial membrane resting on top of connective tissue. The apical surface of this membrane is
exposed to the external environment and is covered with dead, keratinized cells that help protect
the body from desiccation and pathogens.