B7: TRANSPORT IN MAMMALS

The main transport system of all mammals including humans is the blood
system/circulatory system
It’s a network of tubes of blood vessels
The function of the heart keeps blood flowing through the vessels
Valves and blood vessels make sure the blood flows in the right direction
Blood flows into the left hand side of the heart and then out to the rest of the body; its
brought back in the side the heart
The blood in the left hand side of the heart is oxygenated which was picked up by the
capillaries surrounding the alveoli
The deoxygenated blood is brought back to the right hand side
The double circulatory system: that the blood passes through the heart twice in one
complete circuit of the body
The circulatory system is being made of two parts: the pulmonary system and the
systemic system
Pulmonary system: is the blood vessels that take the blood to the lungs and back
Systemic system: is the blood vessels that take the blood to the rest of the body and
back
Double circulatory system is only found in mammals, reptiles, birds
Single circulatory system: that the blood passes through the heart once in one complete
circuit of the body.
Double circulatory system advantages over single circulatory system
- The blood travels much more slowly in single circulatory system because in
mammals when blood is pumped back to the heart the heart increases the heart
pressure again before sending it back to the rest of the body
- Respiration is more effective in a mammal than a fish
The heart is made up of a special type of muscle called cardiac muscle.
 This muscle contract and relaxes regularly throughout life
 The heart is divided into four chambers
 The upper two are called atria
 The lower two are ventricles
The chambers on the left hand side is completely separated from the ones on the right
hand side by a septum.
Both of atria receives blood
The left atrium receives blood from the pulmonary veins, which come from the lungs.
The right atrium receives blood from the rest of the body, arriving through the venae
cavae
From the atria the blood flows into the ventricles, the ventricles pump it out of the heart
by contracting the muscle in their walls
The strong cardiac muscle contracts with considerable force , squeezing inwards on the
blood inside the heart pushing it out
The blood in the left ventricle is pumped into the aorta which takes the blood around
the body.
The right ventricle pumps blood into the pulmonary artery, which takes to the lungs.
The function of the ventricles is quite different from the function of the atria.
The atria simply receives blood from either the lungs or the body and supply it to the
ventricles
the ventricle pump blood out of the heart to the other parts of the body.
To help them do this, the ventricles have much thicker walls, more muscular walls than
the atria.
There is difference in the thickness of the walls of the right and left ventricles.
The right ventricle pumps blood to the mungs, which are very close to the heart.
The left ventricle pumps blood all around the body
The left ventricle has a much thicker muscular wall to enable it to pump blood all around
the body
The blood flowing to the lungs in the pulmonary artery has much lower pressure than
the blood in then aorta
The coronary arteries supplies a constant amount of nutrient and oxygen to the heart to
be able to diffuse it all around the body
If the coronary arteries are blocked cells cannot respire
The blockage is called coronary heart disease (CHD)
The severe factors that increase a person’s risk of getting (CHD)
- Smoking cigarettes
The components in the cigarettes and the nicotine an cause damage to the circulatory
system
- Diet
Diet high in salt or fat can increase the chances of getting coronary heart disease (CHD)
- Obesity
- Stress
Unmanageable or long-term stress appears to increase the risk of coronary heart disease
- Genes
Stethoscope is a tool used to measure heartbeat
When a person exercises, their heartbeats are controlled by a patch of muscle in the
right atrium called pacemaker.
When extra oxygen is needed by the muscles, the brain sends impulses along nerves to
the pacemaker, to make the heartbeat faster.
Atrioventricular valves are a one-way valve found between the left atrium and ventricle
between the right atrium and ventricle.
Function of the atrioventricular valves
- Is to stop blood flowing from ventricles back to the atria .
There are three main kinds of blood vessels
1- Arteries
2- Veins
3- Capillaries
Arteries carry blood away from the heart.
Veins carry blood towards the heart.
The blood pressure in the artery is very high because it has been forced out of the heart
by the contraction of the muscular ventricles
Arteries need very strong walls to withstand the high pressure of the blood flowing
through them
The blood does not move smoothly in the arteries ,it pulses through as the ventricle
contract and relax
The arteries have an elastic tissue in their walls which can stretch and recoil with the
force of the blood .
This helps to make the flow of blood smoother
Capillaries
The arteries gradually divide to form a smaller and smaller vessels
Capillaries are very small and penetrate to every part of the body. No cell is far apart
from the capillary
The function of the capillaries is to take the nutrients and oxygen and other materials to
all the cells in the body and to take away waste materials.
Veins
The capillaries gradually join up again to form veins, by the time the blood gets to the
veins, it is as a much lower pressure than it was in the arteries.
The blood flows slowly and smoothly now. There is no need for veins to have such thick,
strong, elastic walls.
The space inside the veins is called lumen.
Veins have valves in them to stop the blood flowing backwards.
Valves are not needed in the arteries, because the force of the heart beat keeps the
blood moving forwards through them.
The large veins in your legs are squeezed by your leg muscles when you walk. This helps
you to push the blood back up to your heart.
The liquid part of blood is called plasma. Floating in the plasma are cells.
Most of these are red blood cells. A much smaller number are white blood cells.
Plasma is mostly water.
Many substances are dissolved in it.
Soluble nutrients such as glucose, amino acids and mineral ions are carried in the
plasma
There are also9 small fragments formed from special cells in the bone marrow called
platelets.
Plasma also transports hormones and carbon dioxide.
Red blood cells ae made in the bone marrow of some bones, including the ribs,
vertebrae and some other limb bones.
They are produced at a very fast rate, about 9000 million per hour.
Red blood cells have to be made so quickly because they do not live for very long.
Each red blood cell live about four months because they have no nucleus
Red blood cells are red because they contain the pigment haemoglobin. This carries
oxygen .
Haemoglobin is protein and contains iron.
It is this iron that readily combines with oxygen where the gas is good supply.
It just readily gives it up where the oxygen supply is low, as in active tissues.
The lack of a nucleus in red blood cell means there is more space for packing millions
molecules of haemoglobin
Red blood cells shaped like biconcave discs like a flat disc that has been pinched in on
both sides.
With their small size, gives them a relatively large surface area compared with their
volume.
This high surface area to volume ratio speeds up the rate at which oxygen can diffuse in
and out of the red blood cell.
This small size of the red blood cell is also useful in enabling it to squeeze even in the
tiniest capillaries this means that oxygen can be taken very close to every cell in the
body.
White blood cells contain nucleus unlike red blood cells, which is often quite large sand
lobed.
They can move around and can squeeze out through the walls of blood capillaries into all
parts of body.
This function is fight pathogens and to clear up any dead cells
Some of them do this by taking in and digesting bacteria, in a process called
phagocytosis. Other produce chemicals called antibiotics
Platelets are small fragments of cells with no nucleus.
They are made in the red bone marrow, they are involved in blood clotting
Blood clotting stops pathogens getting into the body throw the breaks in the skin.
Normally skin provides a very effective barrier against the entry of bacteria and viruses.
Blood clotting also prevents too much blood loss.