Human Circulatory System

Introduction

 The human circulatory system consists of a network of arteries, veins, and

capillaries, with the heart pumping blood through it.
 Its primary role is to provide essential nutrients, minerals, and hormones to
various parts of the body.
 Alternatively, the circulatory system is also responsible for collecting metabolic
waste and toxins from the cells and tissues to be purified or expelled from the
body.
 The human circulatory system functions to transport blood and oxygen from the
lungs to the various tissues of the body.
 The heart pumps the blood throughout the body.
 The lymphatic system is an extension of the human circulatory system that
includes cell-mediated and antibody-mediated immune systems.
 The components of the human circulatory system include the heart, blood, red
and white blood cells, platelets, and the lymphatic system.

Features of Circulatory System

The crucial features of the human circulatory system are as follows:

 The human circulatory system consists of blood, heart, blood vessels, and lymph.
 The human circulatory system circulates blood through two loops (double
circulation) – One for oxygenated blood, another for deoxygenated blood.
 The human heart consists of four chambers – two ventricles and two auricles.
 The human circulatory system possesses a body-wide network of blood vessels;
these comprise arteries, veins, and capillaries.
 The primary function of blood vessels is to transport oxygenated blood and
nutrients to all parts of the body.
 Most circulatory system diagrams do not visually represent its sheer length.
 Theoretically, if the veins, arteries, and capillaries of a human were laid out, end
to end, it would span a total distance of 1,00,000 kilometres (or roughly eight
times the diameter of the Earth).

Organs of Circulatory System

The human circulatory system comprises 4 main organs that have specific roles and
functions. The vital circulatory system organs include:

 Heart
 Blood (technically, blood is considered a tissue and not an organ)

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  Blood Vessels
 Lymphatic system

Heart

 The heart is a muscular organ located in the chest cavity, right between the lungs.
 It is positioned slightly towards the left in the thoracic region and is enveloped by
the pericardium.
 The human heart is about the size of a clenched fist.
 The human heart is separated into four chambers; namely, two upper chambers
called atria (singular: atrium), and two lower chambers called ventricles.

 Oxygen-poor blood enters the right atrium through a major vein called the vena
cava.
 The blood passes through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricle.
 Next, the blood is pumped through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for gas
exchange.
 Oxygen-rich blood returns to the left atrium via the pulmonary vein.
 The oxygen-rich blood flows through the bicuspid (mitral) valve into the left
ventricle, from which it is pumped through a major artery, the aorta.
 Two valves called semilunar valves are found in the pulmonary artery and aorta.
 The ventricles contract about 70 times per minute, which represents a person’s
pulse rate.
 Blood pressure, in contrast, is the pressure exerted against the walls of the
arteries.

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  Blood pressure is measured by noting the height to which a column of mercury
can be pushed by the blood pressing against the arterial walls.
 A normal blood pressure is a height of 120 millimeters of mercury during heart
contraction (systole) and a height of 80 millimeters of mercury during heart
relaxation (diastole).
 Normal blood pressure is usually expressed as 120/80 mm Hg.
 Coronary arteries supply the heart muscle with blood.
 The heart is controlled by nerves that originate on the right side in the upper
region of the atrium at the sinoatrial node.
 This node is called the pacemaker.
 It generates nerve impulses that spread to the atrioventricular node, where the
impulses are amplified and spread to other regions of the heart by nerves
called Purkinje fibers.

Double Circulation

 The way blood flows in the human body is unique, and it is quite efficient too.
 The blood circulates through the heart twice, hence, it is called double circulation.
 Other animals like fish have single circulation, where blood completes a circuit
through the entire animal only once.
 The main advantage of double circulation is that every tissue in the body has a
steady supply of oxygenated blood, and it does not get mixed with the
deoxygenated blood.

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Blood

 Blood is the medium of transport in the body.

 The fluid portion of the blood, the plasma,
 It is a straw-colored liquid.
 Composed primarily 90% of water, so it is the fluid part of the blood.
 All the important nutrients, the hormones, and the clotting proteins, as well as
the waste products, are transported in the plasma.
 Red blood cells and white blood cells are also suspended in the plasma.
 Plasma from which the clotting proteins have been removed is called serum.

Red blood cells

 Red blood cells are also called erythrocytes.

 These are disk-shaped cells produced in the bone marrow.
 Red blood cells have no nucleus, and their cytoplasm is filled with hemoglobin.
 Hemoglobin is a red-pigmented protein that binds loosely to oxygen atoms and
carbon dioxide molecules.
 It is the mechanism of transport of these substances. (Much carbon dioxide is also
transported as bicarbonate ions.) Hemoglobin also binds to carbon monoxide.
 Unfortunately, this binding is irreversible, so it often leads to carbon monoxide
poisoning.
 A red blood cell circulates for about 120 days and is then destroyed in the spleen;
an organ located near the stomach and composed primarily of lymph node tissue.
 When the red blood cell is destroyed, its iron component is preserved for reuse in
the liver.
 The remainder of the hemoglobin converts to bilirubin.
 This amber substance is the chief pigment in human bile, which is produced in
the liver.

 Red blood cells commonly have immune-stimulating polysaccharides

called antigens on the surface of their cells.
 Individuals having the A antigen have blood type A (as well as anti-B antibodies);
 Individuals having the B antigen have blood type B (as well as anti-A antibodies);
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  Individuals having the A and B antigens have blood type AB (but no anti-A or anti-
B antibodies);
 Individuals having no antigens have blood type O (as well as anti-A and anti-B
antibodies).

White blood cells

 White blood cells are referred to as leukocytes.

 They are generally larger than red blood cells and have clearly defined nuclei.
 They are also produced in the bone marrow and have various functions in the
body.
 Certain white blood cells called lymphocytes are essential components of the
immune system (discussed later in this chapter).
 Other cells called neutrophils and monocytes function primarily
as phagocytes; that is, they attack and engulf invading microorganisms.
 About 30 percent of the white blood cells are lymphocytes, about 60 percent are
neutrophils, and about 8 percent are monocytes.
 The remaining white blood cells are eosinophils and basophils.
 Their functions are uncertain; however, basophils are believed to function in
allergic responses.

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Platelets

 Platelets are small disk-shaped blood fragments produced in the bone marrow.
 They lack nuclei and are much smaller than erythrocytes.
 Also known technically as thrombocytes, they serve as the starting material
for blood clotting.
 The platelets adhere to damaged blood vessel walls, and thromboplastin is
liberated from the injured tissue.
 Thromboplastin, in turn, activates other clotting factors in the blood.
 Along with calcium ions and other factors, thromboplastin converts the blood
protein prothrombin into thrombin.
 Thrombin then catalyzes the conversion of its blood protein fibrinogen into a
protein called fibrin, which forms a patchwork mesh at the injury site.
 As blood cells are trapped in the mesh, a blood clot forms.

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Lymphatic system

 The lymphatic system is an extension of the circulatory system consisting of a

fluid known as lymph, capillaries called lymphatic vessels, and structures called
lymph nodes.
 Lymph is a watery fluid derived from plasma that has seeped out of the blood
system capillaries and mingled with the cells.
 Instead of returning to the heart through the blood veins, this lymph enters a
series of one-way lymphatic vessels that return the fluid to the circulatory
system.
 Along the way, the ducts pass through hundreds of tiny, capsulelike bodies
called lymph nodes.
 Located in the neck, armpits, and groin, the lymph nodes contain cells that filter
the lymph and phagocytize foreign particles.
 The spleen is composed primarily of lymph node tissue. Lying close to the
stomach, the spleen is also the site where red blood cells are destroyed.
 The spleen serves as a reserve blood supply for the body.
 The lymph nodes are also the primary sites of the white blood cells
called lymphocytes.
 The body has two kinds of lymphocytes: B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes.
 Both of these cells can be stimulated by microorganisms or other foreign materials
in the blood.
 These antigens are picked up by phagocytes and lymph and delivered to the
lymph nodes. Here, the lymphocytes are stimulated through a process called
the immune response.
 Certain antigens, primarily those of fungi and protozoa, stimulate the T-
lymphocytes.
 After stimulation, these lymphocytes leave the lymph nodes, enter the circulation,
and proceed to the site where the antigens of microorganisms were detected.
 The T-lymphocytes interact with the microorganisms cell to cell and destroy them.
 This process is called cell-mediated immunity.
 B-lymphocytes are stimulated primarily by bacteria, viruses, and dissolved
materials.
 On stimulation, the B-lymphocytes revert to large antibody-producing cells
called plasma cells.
 The plasma cells synthesize proteins called antibodies, which are released into
the circulation.
 The antibodies flow to the antigen site and destroy the microorganisms by
chemically reacting with them in a highly specific manner.

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 The reaction encourages phagocytosis, neutralizes many microbial toxins,
eliminates the ability of microorganisms to move, and causes them to bind
together in large masses.
 This process is called antibody-mediated immunity.
 After the microorganisms have been removed, the antibodies remain in the
bloodstream and provide lifelong protection to the body.
 Thus, the body becomes immune to specific disease microorganisms.