Goal of the Cardiovascular

System: deliver blood to all

parts of the body
Does so by using different
types of tubing, attached
to a pulsatile pump
Elastic arteries
Muscular arteries
Arterioles
Capillaries
Venuoles
Veins
Distribution system
broken up into areas
called vascular beds
Skin
Digestive (splanchnic)
Muscle
Structure of vasculature changes in response to different needs
Why does blood flow through this closed circuit?
Blood flows down a pressure gradient
The absolute value of the pressure is not important to flow, but the difference in
pressure (DP or gradient) is important to determining flow.

What happens to pressure if we decrease the volume of a fluid filled compartment (i.e.
ventricles during systole)?
P directly proportional to F
The resulting pressure is called the driving pressure in the vascular system
How does the flow differ in these two vessels?
Vascular system possesses different mechanisms for promoting continuous flow of blood to the
capillaries:
Elastic recoil smooth m. regulation of diameter sphincters valves

Muscular arteries
Substances causing contraction in vascular smooth muscle

Chemical Physiologic role Source Type

NE ( ) Baroreceptor reflex Sympathetic neurons Neural

Endothelin Paracrine Vascular endothelium Local

Serotonin Platelet aggregation, smooth Neurons, digestive Local, neural

muscle contraction tract, platelets
Substance P Pain, increased capillary Neurons, digestive Local, neural
permeability tract
Vasopressin Increase blood pressure during Posterior pituitary Hormonal
hemorrhage
Angiotensin II Increase blood pressure Plasma hormone Hormonal

Prostacyclin Minimize blood loss from endothelium local

damaged vessels before
coagulation
Substances that mediate vascular smooth muscle relaxation

Chemical Physiologic role Source Type

Nitric oxide Paracrine mediator Endothelium Local

Atrial natriuretic Reduce blood pressure Atrial myocardium, Hormonal

peptide brain
Vasoactive intestinal Digestive secretion, relax Neurons Neural, hormonal
peptide smooth muscle
Histamine Increase blood flow Mast cells Local, systemic

Epinephrine (2) Enhance local blood flow Adrenal medulla Hormonal

to skeletal muscle, heart,
liver
Acetylcholine Erection of clitoris, penis Parasympathetic neural
(muscarinic) neurons
Bradykinin Increase blood flow via Multiple tissues Local
nitric oxide
Adenosine Enhance blood flow to Hypoxic cells local
match metabolism
Even though there are many mechanisms for altering the radius of the vascular system,
pressure still drops as blood moves further away from the heart. Why?
 1
Resistance = tendency of the vascular system to oppose flow; Flow =
R
Influenced by: length of the tube (L), radius of the tube (r), and viscosity of the blood ()
4
Poiseuilles Law R = Lr
In a normal human, length of the system is fixed, so blood viscosity and radius of the blood
vessels have the largest effects on resistance
All four tubes have the same driving pressure. Which tube has the greatest flow? The
least flow? Why?
Even with a decrease in overall pressure, the pressure in the vessels is not constant. The
pressure in the vessels mirrors the pressures generated in the heart systolic and diastolic
pressures. Systolic = ventricles contracting Diastolic = ventricles filling

Why does the diastolic

pressure rise between the left
ventricle and the arteries?

Normal blood pressure =

120/80
High blood pressure =
140/90
What could be
happening to increase
both the diastolic and
systolic blood pressure?
Blood Pressure
Reflects the driving pressures produced by the ventricles
Because arterial pressure is pulsatile, a single value is used to represent the overall driving
pressure. This is called the mean arterial pressure.
MAP = diastolic P + 1/3(systolic P-diastolic P)
Why does diastolic pressure account for a greater proportion of the overall value?

MAP = Q x Rarterioles
Explain how these two equations are equivalent

SVR = systemic
vascular resistance
CO = cardiac output
SV = stroke volume
What factors influence blood pressure?
Blood volume
Vascular resistance
Autoregulation
Autonomic influences
Regulation of Blood Pressure
Main coordinating center is in
the medulla oblongata of the
brain; medullary cardiovascular
control center
Reflex control of blood pressure
Baroreceptor reflex