Introduction to Physiology

General Physiology
The Cell
Homeostasis
 Human Physiology.
“The study of how living organisms
function”
Or
“The branch of the biological sciences
dealing with the functioning of organisms.
 The Structure – Function
Relationship
• Anatomy: Study of structure
• Physiology: Study of function
Identify:
 What is a cell?
• The basic structural and functional unit
of the body.
 The structure: The Cell

• Each type of cell has a particular function.

– E.g. cells in the skin: protection
– Cells in the GI tract: digestion, absorption
– Cells in the heart: contraction ( Pumping of
blood)
 The cell
• The basic characteristics of almost all the
cell are same.
– All cells have the almost the same intracellular
organelles
– In all cells, oxygen is used to generate the
energy.
 Tissue
• Aggregation of similar cells that perform
a specific function.
 Organ
• Several types of tissues that are
integrated to perform a particular
function.
– Heart
– Lungs
– Liver
 System
• Organization of two or more organs and
associated tissues working as a unit to
perform a common function or set of
functions.
– Cardiovascular system: pumping of blood
– Respiratory system: exchange of gases
– Gastrointestinal system: digestion and
absorption of food.
Cellular Environment

Homeostasis
 Homeostasis
“Maintenance of nearly constant conditions
in the internal environment”
Maintains a good environment for the cells
to function.
 Homeostasis
Role of different systems:
 Homeostasis:

• As blood passes through the blood

capillaries, continual exchange of
extracellular fluid also occurs between the
plasma portion of the blood and the
interstitial fluid that fills the intercellular
spaces
 Homeostasis:
Role of Respiratory System
• Respiratory System. :
– Each time the blood passes through the body, it
also flows through the lungs. The blood picks
up oxygen in the lungs, thus acquiring the
oxygen needed by the cells
 Gastrointestinal Tract.

– A large portion of the blood pumped by the

heart also passes through the walls of the
gastrointestinal tract. Here different dissolved
nutrients, including carbohydrates, fatty acids,
and amino acids, are absorbed from the
ingested food into the extracellular fluid of the
blood.
 Homeostasis:
Role of Liver and Other Organs

• Not all substances absorbed from the

gastrointestinal tract can be used in their absorbed
form by the cells.
• The liver changes the chemical compositions of
many of these substances to more usable forms,
and other tissues of the body—fat cells,
gastrointestinal mucosa, kidneys, and endocrine
glands—help modify the absorbed substances or
store them until they are needed.
 Homeostasis
Musculoskeletal System.
• How does the musculoskeletal system fit
into the homeostatic functions of the body?
– The musculoskeletal system also provides
motility for protection against adverse
surroundings, and for food.
 Removal of Metabolic End
Products
• Removal of Carbon Dioxide by the Lungs.
– At the same time that blood picks up oxygen in the
lungs, carbon dioxide is released from the blood into
the lung
– The respiratory movement of air into and out of the
lungs carries the carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
– Carbon dioxide is the most abundant of all the end
products of metabolism
 Kidneys.
• Removes from the plasma the unnecessary
substances produced in body.
• These substances include different end
products of cellular metabolism, such as
urea and uric acid;
• Kidneys also excrete excesses of ions and
water from the food that might have
accumulated in the extracellular fluid.
 Regulation of Body Functions
• Nervous System.
– The nervous system is composed of three major
parts: the sensory input portion, the central
nervous system (or integrative portion), and
the motor output portion. Sensory receptors
detect the state of the body or the state of the
surroundings.,
 Regulation of Body Functions
• E.g. Receptors in the skin apprise one whenever an object
touches the skin at any point.
• The eyes are sensory organs that give one a visual image
of the surrounding area.
• The ears also are sensory organs.
• The central nervous system is composed of the brain and
spinal cord.
• The brain can store information, generate thoughts, create
ambition, and determine reactions that the body performs
in response to the sensations. Appropriate signals are then
transmitted through the motor output portion of the
nervous system to carry out one’s desires.
 Hormonal System of Regulation.
• Major endocrine glands:
– Secrete chemical substances called hormones.
– Hormones are transported in the extracellular
fluid to all parts of the body to help regulate
cellular function.
– E.g. thyroid hormone increases the rates of
most chemical reactions in all cells, thus
helping to set the tempo of bodily activity.
– Insulin controls glucose metabolism
 Control Systems of the Body

• Genetic control systems that operate in all cells to help

control intracellular function as well as extracellular
function
• Many other control systems operate within the organs to
control functions of the individual parts of the organs;
others operate throughout the entire body to control the
interrelations between the organs.
– E.g The liver and pancreas regulate the concentration of glucose in
the extracellular fluid, and
– The kidneys regulate concentrations of hydrogen, sodium,
potassium, phosphate, and other ions in the extracellular fluid.
 Normal Ranges and Physical
Characteristics

Note the narrowness of the normal range for each one.

Values outside these ranges are usually caused by
illness.
 Normal Ranges
• E.g. an increase in the body temperature of
only 11°F (7°C) above normal can lead to a
vicious cycle of increasing cellular
metabolism that destroys the cells.
 Homeostasis
• maintenance of nearly constant conditions
in the internal environment
 Homeostasis
• The cells exist in an "internal sea" of
extracellular fluid (ECF).
• From this fluid, the cells take up O2 and
nutrients; into it, they discharge metabolic
waste products.
 Homeostasis
• In animals with a closed vascular system, the ECF is
divided into two components:
– the interstitial fluid and the
– circulating blood plasma.
• The plasma and the cellular elements of the blood,
principally red blood cells, fill the vascular system, and
together they constitute the total blood volume.
• The interstitial fluid is that part of the ECF that is outside
the vascular system, bathing the cells.
• About a third of the total body water (TBW) is
extracellular; the remaining two-thirds are intracellular
(intracellular fluid).
 DISTRIBUTION OF FLUIDS
WITHIN THE BODY
• Total Body Water:
– Intracellular fluid (ICF): approximately 2/3 of total of body
water
– Extracellular fluid (ECF): approximately 1/3 of total body water
– Interstitial fluid (ISF): approximately 2/3 of the extracellular
fluid
– Vascular fluid (VF): approximately 1/3 of the extracellular fluid
(plasma plus red blood cells).
– A normal vascular volume is close to 5 L (blood volume)
DISTRIBUTION OF FLUIDS
WITHIN THE BODY
Body compartments of water
 Body compartments of water
• Intracellular Fluid (ICF) versus Extracellular Fluid
(ECF)
• These two compartments are separated by cell
membranes which generally have the following
• Important characteristics:
– Freely Permeable to Water
– Impermeable to Sodium (Chloride)
– Presence of different traspororters.
 Body compartments of water
• Interstitial versus Vascular (Plasma)
fluid
– Movement of fluid between these two
compartments occurs across capillary
membranes.
– Capillary membranes are freely permeable to
all natural substances dissolved in the plasma,
except proteins.
 Extracellular Fluid—The
“Internal Environment”
• About 60 per cent of the adult human body is fluid, mainly
a water solution of ions and other substances.
• Most of this fluid is inside the cells and is called
intracellular fluid, about one third is in the spaces outside
the cells and is called extracellular fluid.
• This extracellular fluid is in constant motion throughout
the body. It is transported rapidly in the circulating blood
and then mixed between the blood and the tissue fluids by
diffusion through the capillary walls.
 Internal Environment
• In the extracellular fluid are the ions and nutrients needed
by the cells to maintain cell life. Thus, all cells live in
essentially the same environment—the extracellular
fluid. So the extracellular fluid is also called the internal
environment of the body
• Cells are capable of living, growing, and performing their
special functions as long as the proper concentrations of
oxygen, glucose, different ions, amino acids, fatty
substances, and other constituents are available in this
internal environment.
Differences Between Extracellular
and Intracellular Fluids
• The extracellular fluid:
– Contains large amounts of sodium, chloride, and
bicarbonate ions plus nutrients for the cells, such as
oxygen, glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids.
• The intracellular fluid:
– Differs significantly
– Contains large amounts of potassium, magnesium, and
phosphate ions
– Special mechanisms for transporting ions through the
cell membranes maintain the ion concentration
differences between the extracellular and intracellular
fluids.