When these valves leak, the backflow of blood can cause the veins to stretch and become elongated and convoluted tortuous. Stretched, tortuous veins near the body's surface are called varicose veins Varicose Veins Varicose veins are abnormally enlarged superficial veins in the legs. Varicose veins may ache or cause itching or a sensation of tiredness. Doctors can detect varicose veins by examining the Merck and Co.
From developing new therapies that treat and prevent disease to helping people in need, we are committed to improving health and well-being around the world. The Manual was first published in as a service to the community. Learn more about our commitment to Global Medical Knowledge. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. Common Health Topics.
Arteries and arterioles. Venules and veins. Biology of the Heart and Blood Vessels. Test your knowledge. Swelling is a condition caused by excess fluid in the tissues. The fluid involved in swelling is primarily water. Swelling may occur in one or several parts of the body, often the feet and lower legs. Swelling that occurs throughout the body has different causes than swelling in a single limb or part of a limb. Which of the following is a frequent cause of swelling in a single limb or part of a limb?
More Content. Blood Vessels: Circulating the Blood Blood travels from the heart in arteries, which branch into smaller and smaller vessels, eventually becoming arterioles. Blood Vessels and Lymph Nodes. Was This Page Helpful?
Yes No. Effects of Aging on the Heart and Blood Vessels. In addition, many veins of the body, particularly those of the limbs, contain valves that assist the unidirectional flow of blood toward the heart.
This is critical because blood flow becomes sluggish in the extremities, as a result of the lower pressure and the effects of gravity. The walls of arteries and veins are largely composed of living cells and their products including collagenous and elastic fibers ; the cells require nourishment and produce waste. Further, the walls of the larger vessels are too thick for nutrients to diffuse through to all of the cells.
Since the pressure within arteries is relatively high, the vasa vasorum must function in the outer layers of the vessel or the pressure exerted by the blood passing through the vessel would collapse it, preventing any exchange from occurring. The lower pressure within veins allows the vasa vasorum to be located closer to the lumen. The restriction of the vasa vasorum to the outer layers of arteries is thought to be one reason that arterial diseases are more common than venous diseases, since its location makes it more difficult to nourish the cells of the arteries and remove waste products.
There are also minute nerves within the walls of both types of vessels that control the contraction and dilation of smooth muscle. These minute nerves are known as the nervi vasorum. Both arteries and veins have the same three distinct tissue layers, called tunics from the Latin term tunica , for the garments first worn by ancient Romans; the term tunic is also used for some modern garments. From the most interior layer to the outer, these tunics are the tunica intima, the tunica media, and the tunica externa.
Table 1 compares and contrasts the tunics of the arteries and veins. The tunica intima also called the tunica interna is the innermost tissue layer that lines vessels and is composed of epithelial and connective tissue layers. Lining the tunica intima is the specialized simple squamous epithelium called the endothelium, which is continuous throughout the entire vascular system, including the lining of the chambers of the heart.
Damage to this endothelial lining and exposure of blood to the collagenous fibers beneath is one of the primary causes of clot formation. Until recently, the endothelium was viewed simply as the boundary between the blood in the lumen and the walls of the vessels. Recent studies, however, have shown that it is physiologically critical to such activities as helping to regulate capillary exchange and altering blood flow.
The endothelium releases local chemicals called endothelins that can constrict the smooth muscle within the walls of the vessel to increase blood pressure. Uncompensated overproduction of endothelins may contribute to hypertension high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
Next to the endothelium is the basement membrane, or basal lamina, that effectively binds the endothelium to the connective tissue. The basement membrane provides strength while maintaining flexibility, and it is permeable, allowing materials to pass through it. The thin outer layer of the tunica intima contains a small amount of areolar connective tissue that consists primarily of elastic fibers to provide the vessel with additional flexibility; it also contains some collagenous fibers to provide additional strength.
In larger arteries, there is also a thick, distinct layer of elastic fibers known as the internal elastic membrane also called the internal elastic lamina at the boundary with the tunica media. Like the other components of the tunica intima, the internal elastic membrane allows the vessel to stretch in response to blood surges produced by ventricular contractions.
In addition, many veins, particularly in the lower limbs, contain valves formed by sections of thickened endothelium that are reinforced with connective tissue, extending into the lumen. Under the microscope, the lumen and the entire tunica intima of a vein will appear smooth, whereas those of an artery will normally appear wavy because of the partial constriction of the smooth muscle in the tunica media, the next layer of blood vessel walls. The tunica media is the substantial middle layer of the vessel wall see Figure 2.
It is generally the thickest layer in arteries, and it is much thicker in arteries than it is in veins.
The tunica media consists of layers of smooth muscle supported by connective tissue that is primarily made up of elastic fibers, most of which are arranged in circular sheets. Toward the outer portion of the tunic, there are also layers of longitudinal muscle. Contraction and relaxation of the circular muscles decrease and increase the diameter of the vessel lumen, respectively. Specifically in arteries, vasoconstriction decreases blood flow as the smooth muscle in the walls of the tunica media contracts, making the lumen narrower and increasing blood pressure.
Similarly, vasodilation increases blood flow as the smooth muscle relaxes, allowing the lumen to widen and blood pressure to drop. These are generally all sympathetic fibers, although some trigger vasodilation and others induce vasoconstriction, depending upon the nature of the neurotransmitter and receptors located on the target cell. Parasympathetic stimulation does trigger vasodilation as well as erection during sexual arousal in the external genitalia of both sexes. Nervous control over vessels tends to be more generalized than the specific targeting of individual blood vessels.
Local controls, discussed later, account for this phenomenon. Seek additional content for more information on these dynamic aspects of the autonomic nervous system. Hormones and local chemicals also control blood vessels. Together, these neural and chemical mechanisms reduce or increase blood flow in response to changing body conditions, from exercise to hydration. Regulation of both blood flow and blood pressure is discussed in detail later in this chapter. The smooth muscle layers of the tunica media are supported by a framework of collagenous fibers that also binds the tunica media to the inner and outer tunics.
Along with the collagenous fibers are large numbers of elastic fibers that appear as wavy lines in prepared slides. Separating the tunica media from the outer tunica externa in larger arteries is the external elastic membrane also called the external elastic lamina , which also appears wavy in slides.
This structure is not usually seen in smaller arteries, nor is it seen in veins. The outer tunic, the tunica externa also called the tunica adventitia , is a substantial sheath of connective tissue composed primarily of collagenous fibers.
Some bands of elastic fibers are found here as well. The tunica externa in veins also contains groups of smooth muscle fibers. This is normally the thickest tunic in veins and may be thicker than the tunica media in some larger arteries.
The outer layers of the tunica externa are not distinct but rather blend with the surrounding connective tissue outside the vessel, helping to hold the vessel in relative position.
If you are able to palpate some of the superficial veins on your upper limbs and try to move them, you will find that the tunica externa prevents this. If the tunica externa did not hold the vessel in place, any movement would likely result in disruption of blood flow. An artery is a blood vessel that conducts blood away from the heart. All arteries have relatively thick walls that can withstand the high pressure of blood ejected from the heart.
However, those close to the heart have the thickest walls, containing a high percentage of elastic fibers in all three of their tunics. This type of artery is known as an elastic artery see Figure 3.
Vessels larger than 10 mm in diameter are typically elastic. Their abundant elastic fibers allow them to expand, as blood pumped from the ventricles passes through them, and then to recoil after the surge has passed. If artery walls were rigid and unable to expand and recoil, their resistance to blood flow would greatly increase and blood pressure would rise to even higher levels, which would in turn require the heart to pump harder to increase the volume of blood expelled by each pump the stroke volume and maintain adequate pressure and flow.
Artery walls would have to become even thicker in response to this increased pressure. The elastic recoil of the vascular wall helps to maintain the pressure gradient that drives the blood through the arterial system.
An elastic artery is also known as a conducting artery, because the large diameter of the lumen enables it to accept a large volume of blood from the heart and conduct it to smaller branches. Figure 3. Comparison of the walls of an elastic artery, a muscular artery, and an arteriole is shown. In terms of scale, the diameter of an arteriole is measured in micrometers compared to millimeters for elastic and muscular arteries. The artery at this point is described as a muscular artery. The diameter of muscular arteries typically ranges from 0.
Their thick tunica media allows muscular arteries to play a leading role in vasoconstriction. In contrast, their decreased quantity of elastic fibers limits their ability to expand. Fortunately, because the blood pressure has eased by the time it reaches these more distant vessels, elasticity has become less important. Rather, there is a gradual transition as the vascular tree repeatedly branches.
In turn, muscular arteries branch to distribute blood to the vast network of arterioles. For this reason, a muscular artery is also known as a distributing artery. An arteriole is a very small artery that leads to a capillary. Arterioles have the same three tunics as the larger vessels, but the thickness of each is greatly diminished.
The critical endothelial lining of the tunica intima is intact. The tunica media is restricted to one or two smooth muscle cell layers in thickness.
The tunica externa remains but is very thin see Figure 3. With a lumen averaging 30 micrometers or less in diameter, arterioles are critical in slowing down—or resisting—blood flow and, thus, causing a substantial drop in blood pressure. Because of this, you may see them referred to as resistance vessels.
The muscle fibers in arterioles are normally slightly contracted, causing arterioles to maintain a consistent muscle tone—in this case referred to as vascular tone—in a similar manner to the muscular tone of skeletal muscle.
In reality, all blood vessels exhibit vascular tone due to the partial contraction of smooth muscle. The importance of the arterioles is that they will be the primary site of both resistance and regulation of blood pressure. The precise diameter of the lumen of an arteriole at any given moment is determined by neural and chemical controls, and vasoconstriction and vasodilation in the arterioles are the primary mechanisms for distribution of blood flow. A capillary is a microscopic channel that supplies blood to the tissues themselves, a process called perfusion.
Exchange of gases and other substances occurs in the capillaries between the blood and the surrounding cells and their tissue fluid interstitial fluid. The diameter of a capillary lumen ranges from 5—10 micrometers; the smallest are just barely wide enough for an erythrocyte to squeeze through. Flow through capillaries is often described as microcirculation. The wall of a capillary is different from other vessels, as it consists only of an endothelial layer surrounded by a basement membrane with occasional smooth muscle fibers.
There is some variation in wall structure: In a large capillary, several endothelial cells bordering each other may line the lumen; in a small capillary, there may be only a single cell layer that wraps around to contact itself. For capillaries to function, their walls must be leaky, allowing substances to pass through. The most common type of capillary, the continuous capillary , is found in almost all vascularized tissues. Continuous capillaries are characterized by a complete endothelial lining with tight junctions between endothelial cells.
Although a tight junction is usually impermeable and only allows for the passage of water and ions, they are often incomplete in capillaries, leaving intercellular clefts that allow for exchange of water and other very small molecules between the blood plasma and the interstitial fluid. Substances that can pass between cells include metabolic products, such as glucose, water, and small hydrophobic molecules like gases and hormones, as well as various leukocytes.
Continuous capillaries not associated with the brain are rich in transport vesicles, contributing to either endocytosis or exocytosis. Those in the brain are part of the blood-brain barrier. Here, there are tight junctions and no intercellular clefts, plus a thick basement membrane and astrocyte extensions called end feet; these structures combine to prevent the movement of nearly all substances.
Figure 4. The three major types of capillaries: continuous, fenestrated, and sinusoid. A fenestrated capillary is one that has pores or fenestrations in addition to tight junctions in the endothelial lining. These make the capillary permeable to larger molecules. The number of fenestrations and their degree of permeability vary, however, according to their location.
Fenestrated capillaries are common in the small intestine, which is the primary site of nutrient absorption, as well as in the kidneys, which filter the blood. They are also found in the choroid plexus of the brain and many endocrine structures, including the hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal, and thyroid glands. A sinusoid capillary or sinusoid is the least common type of capillary.
Sinusoid capillaries are flattened, and they have extensive intercellular gaps and incomplete basement membranes, in addition to intercellular clefts and fenestrations. This gives them an appearance not unlike Swiss cheese.
These very large openings allow for the passage of the largest molecules, including plasma proteins and even cells. Blood flow through sinusoids is very slow, allowing more time for exchange of gases, nutrients, and wastes. Sinusoids are found in the liver and spleen, bone marrow, lymph nodes where they carry lymph, not blood , and many endocrine glands including the pituitary and adrenal glands.
Without these specialized capillaries, these organs would not be able to provide their myriad of functions. For example, when bone marrow forms new blood cells, the cells must enter the blood supply and can only do so through the large openings of a sinusoid capillary; they cannot pass through the small openings of continuous or fenestrated capillaries. The liver also requires extensive specialized sinusoid capillaries in order to process the materials brought to it by the hepatic portal vein from both the digestive tract and spleen, and to release plasma proteins into circulation.
A metarteriole is a type of vessel that has structural characteristics of both an arteriole and a capillary. Slightly larger than the typical capillary, the smooth muscle of the tunica media of the metarteriole is not continuous but forms rings of smooth muscle sphincters prior to the entrance to the capillaries. Each metarteriole arises from a terminal arteriole and branches to supply blood to a capillary bed that may consist of 10— capillaries.
The precapillary sphincters , circular smooth muscle cells that surround the capillary at its origin with the metarteriole, tightly regulate the flow of blood from a metarteriole to the capillaries it supplies.
Their function is critical: If all of the capillary beds in the body were to open simultaneously, they would collectively hold every drop of blood in the body and there would be none in the arteries, arterioles, venules, veins, or the heart itself.
Normally, the precapillary sphincters are closed.
0コメント