The Circulatory System

Blood Plays a Central Role in

Maintaining Homeostasis

• Blood is the fluid of the circulatory system. It carries many

substances, including dissolved respiratory gases, through the body.
• The heart pumps blood through vessels.
• Blood vessels lead to respiratory surfaces, where blood exchanges
gases with the environment. They also lead to body tissues, where
blood exchanges gases and nutrients.
 Blood Plays a Central Role in
Maintaining Homeostasis

• Blood consists of cells suspended in a liquid extracellular matrix

called plasma.
‒ Plasma is mostly water but also contains antibodies and
many other dissolved substances.
‒ Plasma carries red blood cells, white blood cells, and
platelets.
 Blood Plays a Central Role in
Maintaining Homeostasis
• Red blood cells carry oxygen to body tissues.
‒ Red blood cells contain hemoglobin, a protein that binds to
oxygen at respiratory surfaces and “unloads” oxygen at body
tissues.
 Blood Plays a Central Role in
Maintaining Homeostasis
• White blood cells are part of the immune system.
‒ They provoke inflammation and destroy microbes, among
many other functions.
• Platelets are cell fragments that initiate blood clotting.
 Blood Plays a Central Role in
Maintaining Homeostasis
• Platelets adhere to each other at a break in a blood vessel.
• Plasma proteins called clotting factors reinforce the clot.
 Blood Has Diverse Functions

• Here is a
summary of
blood’s
functions.
 Animal Circulatory Systems
• Blood travels through circulatory systems, which have multiple
forms.
‒ An open circulatory system has short, open-ended vessels that
lead to open spaces in the body cavity.
‒ Fluid can exchange materials with the cells before flowing back
into the heart through pores.
 Animal Circulatory Systems
‒ In a closed circulatory system, blood remains in vessels.
‒ Blood exchanges materials (nutrients, dissolved gases, waste
products) with tissue fluids that surround the body cells.
‒ These materials enter and leave the bloodstream by crossing
the vessel membranes.
 Animal Circulatory Systems

• Closed circulatory
systems are
distinguished
based on the
number of heart
chambers.
 Animal Circulatory Systems

‒ Fishes and
larval
amphibians, for
example, have
a two-
chambered
heart. Blood is
pumped across
the gills and
then to the rest
of the body.
 Animal Circulatory Systems
‒ Adult amphibians
and reptiles have
a three-
chambered heart.
‒ Birds and
mammals have a
four-chambered
heart. Blood is
pumped to the
lungs, and then
returns to the
heart to be
pumped to the
rest of the body.
The Cardiovascular System: An Overview

• This diagram shows

some of the major
components of the
human
cardiovascular
system.
 The Cardiovascular System: An Overview
• The heart pumps blood
through three main
types of blood vessels.
1. Arteries carry blood
away from the heart.
2. Veins carry blood back
to the heart.
3. Capillaries are the
tiniest blood vessels.
Water and dissolved
substances diffuse
between each capillary
and the interstitial fluid
that bathes body cells.

Section 27.3 Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Figure 27.6
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
• The muscular heart pumps thousands of liters of blood through the
body each day.

• How does the heart work?

 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
• The human heart has four chambers.
‒ Atria receive blood from veins.
‒ Ventricles pump blood into arteries.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
‒ The right half of the heart receives blood from the body and
pumps it to the lungs.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
‒ The left half of the heart receives blood from the lungs and pumps
it to the rest of the body.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
• The right atrium receives oxygen-depleted blood.
• The right atrium pumps oxygen-depleted blood to the right
ventricle, which then pumps it to the lungs.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump

• Blood picks up oxygen

at the lung capillaries
and returns to the left
atrium of the heart.
• The left atrium pumps
oxygen-rich blood to
the left ventricle, which
then pumps it through
the aorta to the rest of
the body.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
• How does the heart “know” when to contract its ventricles and
atria to regulate blood flow through the circulatory system?
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
1. The signal to contract begins at the pacemaker, also called the
sinoatrial (SA) node.
2. Each signal from the pacemaker spreads along the sides of the
heart. The two atria contract in unison.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
3. After a brief delay—giving time for the ventricles to fill with
blood—the signal reaches the atrioventricular (AV) node, which
sends the signal to contract through the ventricle walls.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
• Two sets of valves prevents blood from flowing backward through
the heart.
• When the ventricles contract, valves between the ventricles and
atria close.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
• When the ventricles relax, valves between the arteries and the
ventricles close.
‒ The familiar “lub-dup” sound of the heart comes from the two
sets of heart valves closing.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
• The amount of blood pumped each minute, called cardiac output,
is determined by the heart rate and the strength of the heart.
‒ Strong heart muscles pump more blood with each stroke than
weaker muscles.
 The Heart Is a Muscular Pump
We can watch this process in action:
• Heart Contraction and Blood Flow

• Your Heart's Electrical System

Blood Vessels Form the Circulation Pathway

• Arteries carry blood away

from the heart.
‒ They have a thick
layer of smooth
muscle that can
withstand high blood
pressure.
Blood Vessels Form the Circulation Pathway

• Arteries lead to
slightly smaller
arterioles.
• Arterioles lead to
capillary beds,
where vessels are
only about as wide
as a red blood cell.
Blood Vessels Form the Circulation Pathway

• Capillary walls are only

one cell layer thick,
allowing water and
substances to easily
diffuse to body tissues.
Blood Vessels Form the Circulation Pathway
• Capillary beds lead to
venules, which in turn
lead to veins.
• Blood pressure in veins is
low. Therefore, they have
a thinner layer of smooth
muscle than arteries.
 Systemic Circulation
• Systemic circulation: system of blood
vessels that carry blood from the heart out to
all the tissues of the body and return the
blood to the heart.
– Arteries carry oxygenated blood out to the
tissues.
– Veins carry deoxygenated blood from the
tissues back to the heart.
 Pulmonary Circulation
• Pulmonary circulation: vessels that carry blood
from right ventricle to lungs and back to the left
atrium of heart
• Pulmonary trunk: branches into pulmonary arteries
• Pulmonary arteries: carry deoxygenated blood
from right ventricle to the lungs
• Pulmonary veins: exit lungs and carry oxygenated
blood to left atrium
• These vessels are exceptions to the rule!
– Pulmonary arteries are the only arteries that carry
deoxygenated blood, and pulmonary veins are the only
veins that carry oxygenated blood.
Blood Vessels Form the Circulation Pathway
• Without much smooth muscle, veins collapse when they are not
filled with blood.
‒ Valves keep blood from flowing backward in veins.
‒ Skeletal muscle contraction propels blood through open valves
toward the heart.

Section 27.5 Copyright © 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Figure 27.11
 Blood Pressure
• Blood pressure – the pressure blood exerts on the walls of
vessels.
• Doctors measure blood pressure using a sphygmomanometer.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2111_Blood_Pressure_Graph.jpg. Attribution:
OpenStax College [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]
 Blood Pressure
• The higher reading (systole) reflects the pressure in arteries when
the ventricles contract.
• The lower reading (diastole) reflects the pressure in arteries when
the ventricles relax.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2111_Blood_Pressure_Graph.jpg. Attribution:
OpenStax College [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]
 Blood Pressure
• Factors that Influence Arterial Blood Pressure
– Cardiac output
• A function of stroke volume (volume of blood
discharged from the ventricle during each
contraction) and heart rate (number of beats per
minute).
– Blood volume
– Peripheral resistance – opposition to blood flow
• Vessel interior diameter (smaller diameter → more
resistance)
• Vessel length (longer length → more resistance)
– Blood viscosity
• i.e. the consistency (thinner – more “watery” vs.
thicker – more “syrupy”)
Blood Vessels Form the Circulation Pathway

• A negative feedback system helps regulate blood pressure.

‒ When blood pressure is too high, arterioles dilate, and heart
rate decreases to lower blood pressure back into the normal
range.
‒ When blood pressure is too low, arterioles constrict, and heart
rate increases to raise blood pressure back into the normal
range.