NEET MDS Lessons
Physiology
Heart is a hollow muscular organ , that is located in the middle mediastinum between the two bony structures of the sternum and the vertebral column ( a very important location for applying Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation - CPR- ) .
It has a shape of clenched fist , which weighs about 300 grams ( with mild variation between male and female ).
Heart has an apex that is anteriorly , inferiorly , and leftward oriented , and a base , that is posteriorly , superiorly and rightward oriented .
In addition to its apex and base the heart has anterior , posterior and left surfaces.
The wall of the heart is composed of three layers :
1. Endocardium : The innermost layer , which lines the heart chambers and is in direct contact with the blood . It is composed of endothelial cells that are similar to those , that line the blood vessels , and of connective tissue too.
Endocardium has a smooth surface that prevents blood clotting, as it ensures laminar blood flow .
Clinical Physiology
Endocarditis is the inflammation of the endocardium , which is resistant to antibiotic treatment and difficult to cure.Endocarditis usually involves heart valves and chordae tendineae too.
2. Myocardium : The middle layer of the cardiac wall . It is the thickest among the three layers , and is composed of two types of cardiac muscles :
a. contractile muscle cells (form about 98-99% of the cardiac muscle ) .
b- non-contractile muscle cells ( form about 1-2 % of the cardiac muscles and are the cells that form excitatory-conductive system of the heart).
The cardiac muscle cells are similar to the skeletal muscles in that they are striated , but similar to the smooth muscles in being involuntary and connected to each others via gap junctions , that facilitate conduction of electrical potential from one cell to the others. Desmosomes adhere cardiac muscle cells to each others .
3- Epicardium : is the outermost and protective layer of the heart . It is composed of connective tissue , and form the inner layer of the pericardium ( visceral pericardium - see bellow).
Pericardium:
The heart is surrounded by a fluid-fill sac , which is known as pericardium . Pericardium is composed of two layers ( doubled layer membrane ) , between which a fluid-fill pericardial cavity exist .
The outer layer is called fibrous pericardium , while the inner layer is called serous pericardium , which is subdivided into parietal pericardium and visceral pericardium . The visceral pericardium is the previously mentioned outermost layer of heart ( epicardium) .
Pericardial sac plays an important role in protection of heart from external hazards and infections , as it fixes the heart and limits its motion. It also prevents excessive dilation of the heart.
Clinical physiology:
When there is excessive fluid in the pericardial cavity as a result of pericardial effusion , a cardiac tamponade will develop . cardiac tamponade means compression of the heart within the pericardial sac , which will prevent the relaxation of the heart ( heart will not be able to fully expand ) , and thus the circulating blood volume will be decreased (obstructive shock) . This is a life threatening situation which has to be urgently cured by pericardiocentesis .
Chambers of the heart :
Heart has four chambers : two atria and two ventricles . The two right and left atria are separated from the two ventricles by the fibrous skeleton , which involves the right ( tricuspid ) and left ( bicuspid ) valves. Right and left atria are separated from each other by the interatrial septum .
The two ventricles are separated by the interventricular septum.Interventricular septum is muscular in its lower thick part and fibrous in its upper thin part.
The two atria holds the blood returning from the veins and empty it only in a given right moment into the ventricles. Ventricles pump the blood into the arteries .
Heart valves :
There are four valves in the heart : Two atrioventricular valves and two semi-lunar valves:
1. Atrioventricular ( AV ) valves: These valves are found between the atria and ventricles , depending on the number of the leaflets , the right atrioventricular valve is also called tricuspid valve (has three leaflets ) , while the left one is called bicuspid valve (has two leaflets ) . The shape of the bicuspid valve is similar to the mitre of bishop , so it is also called the mitral valve.
The leaflets of the valves are attached to fibrous threads (composed of collagen fibers ) , known as chordae tendineae , which from their side are attached to papillary muscles in the ventricles. These valves prevent backward flow of blood from ventricles during the systole.
2. Semi-lunar valves :
These valves are located on the base of the arteries ( aorta and pulmonary artery ) . They prevent the backward flow of blood from the arteries into ventricles.
The structure of the semilunar valves is quite different from that of the AV valves , as they have crescent-shaped cusps that do not have chorda tendinea , instead these cusps are like pockets which are filled of blood when it returns to the ventricles from the lumen of arteries during the diastole , so they get closed and prevent the backward flow of blood.
1 - Passive processes - require no expenditure of energy by a cell:
- Simple diffusion = net movement of a substance from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. The rate of diffusion is influenced by:
- concentration gradient
- cross-sectional area through which diffusion occurs
- temperature
- molecular weight of a substance
- distance through which diffusion occurs
- Osmosis = diffusion of water across a semi permeable membrane (like a cell membrane) from an area of low solute concentration to an area of high solute concentration
- Facilitated diffusion = movement of a substance across a cell membrane from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. This process requires the use of 'carriers' (membrane proteins). In the example below, a ligand molecule (e.g., acetylcholine) binds to the membrane protein. This causes a conformational change or, in other words, an 'opening' in the protein through which a substance (e.g., sodium ions) can pass.
2 - Active processes - require the expenditure of energy by cells:
- Active transport = movement of a substance across a cell membrane from an area of low concentration to an area of high concentration using a carrier molecule
- Endo- & exocytosis - moving material into (endo-) or out of (exo-) cell in bulk form
Remember the following principles before proceeding :
- Reabsorption occurs for most of substances that have been previously filterd .
- The direction of reabsorption is from the tubules to the peritubular capillaries
- All of transport mechanism are used here.
- Different morphology of the cells of different parts of the tubules contribute to reabsorption of different substances .
- There are two routes of reabsorption: Paracellular and transcellular : Paracellular reabsorption depends on the tightness of the tight junction which varies from regeon to region in the nephrons .Transcellular depends on presence of transporters ( carriers and channels for example).
1. Reabsorption of glucose , amino acids , and proteins :
Transport of glucose occurs in the proximal tubule . Cells of proximal tubules are similar to those of the intestinal mucosa as the apical membrane has brush border form to increase the surface area for reabsorption , the cells have plenty of mitochondria which inform us that high amount of energy is required for active transport , and the basolateral membrane of the cells contain sodium -potassium pumps , while the apical membrane contains a lot of carrier and channels .
The tight junction between the tubular cells of the proximal tubules are not that (tight) which allow paracellular transport.
Reabsorption of glucose starts by active transport of Na by the pumps on the basolateral membrane . This will create Na gradient which will cause Na to pass the apical membrane down its concentration gradient . Glucose also passes the membrane up its concentration gradient using sodium -glucose symporter as a secondary active transport.
The concentration of glucose will be increased in the cell and this will enable the glucose to pass down concentration gradient to the interstitium by glucose uniporter . Glucose will then pass to the peritubular capillaries by simple bulk flow.
Remember: Glucose reabsorption occurs via transcellular route .
Glucose transport has transport maximum . In normal situation there is no glucose in the urine , but in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus patients glucose level exceeds its transport maximum (390 mg/dl) and thus will appear in urine .
2. Reabsorption of Amino acids : Use secondary active transport mechanism like glucose.
3. Reabsorption of proteins :
Plasma proteins are not filtered in Bowman capsule but some proteins and peptides in blood may pass the filtration membrane and then reabsorbed . Some peptides are reabsorbed paracellulary , while the others bind to the apical membrane and then enter the cells by endocytosis , where they will degraded by peptidase enzymes to amino acids .
4. Reabsorption of sodium , water , and chloride:
65 % of sodium is reabsorbed in the proximal tubules , while 25% are reabsorbed in the thick ascending limb of loob of Henle , 9% in the distal and collecting tubules and collecting ducts .
90% of sodium reabsorption occurs independently from its plasma level (unregulated) , This is true for sodium reabsorbed in proximal tubule and loop of Henle , while the 9% that is reabsorbed in distal ,collecting tubules and collecting ducts is regulated by Aldosterone.
In proximal tubules : 65% of sodium is reabsorbed . The initial step occurs by creating sodium gradient by sodium-potassium pump on the basolateral membrane . then the sodium will pass from the lumen into the cells down concentration gradient by sodium -glucose symporter , sodium -phosphate symporter and by sodium- hydrogen antiporter and others
After reabsorption of sodium , an electrical gradient will be created , then chloride is reabsorbed following the sodium . Thus the major cation and anion leave the lumen to the the interstitium and thus the water follows by osmosis . 65% of water is reabsorbed in the proximal tubule.
Discending limb of loop of Henle is impermeable to electrolytes but avidly permeable to water . 10 % of water is reabsorbed in the discending thin limb of loob of Henle .
The thick ascending limb of loop of Henly is permeable to electrolytes , due to the presence of Na2ClK syporter . 25% of sodium is reabsorbed here .
In the distal and collecting tubules and the collecting ducts 9% of sodium is reabsorbed .this occurs under aldosterone control depending on sodium plasma level. 1% of sodium is excreted .
Water is not reabsorbed from distal tubule but 5-25% of water is reabsorbed in collecting tubules .
Oxygen Transport
In adult humans the hemoglobin (Hb) molecule
- consists of four polypeptides:
- two alpha (α) chains of 141 amino acids and
- two beta (β) chains of 146 amino acids
- Each of these is attached the prosthetic group heme.
- There is one atom of iron at the center of each heme.
- One molecule of oxygen can bind to each heme.
The reaction is reversible.
- Under the conditions of lower temperature, higher pH, and increased oxygen pressure in the capillaries of the lungs, the reaction proceeds to the right. The purple-red deoxygenated hemoglobin of the venous blood becomes the bright-red oxyhemoglobin of the arterial blood.
- Under the conditions of higher temperature, lower pH, and lower oxygen pressure in the tissues, the reverse reaction is promoted and oxyhemoglobin gives up its oxygen.
- Sensory:
- Somatic (skin & muscle) Senses:
Postcentral gyrus (parietal lobe). This area senses touch, pressure, pain, hot, cold, & muscle position. The arrangement is upside-down (head below, feet above) and is switched from left to right (sensations from the right side of the body are received on the left side of the cortex). Some areas (face, hands) have many more sensory and motor nerves than others. A drawing of the body parts represented in the postcentral gyrus, scaled to show area, is called a homunculus . - Vision:
Occipital lobe, mostly medial, in calcarine sulcus. Sensations from the left visual field go to the right cortex and vice versa. Like other sensations they are upside down. The visual cortex is very complicated because the eye must take into account shape, color and intensity. - Taste:
Postcentral gyrus, close to lateral sulcus. The taste area is near the area for tongue somatic senses. - Smell:
The olfactory cortex is not as well known as some of the other areas. Nerves for smell go to the olfactory bulb of the frontal cortex, then to other frontal cortex centers- some nerve fibers go directly to these centers, but others come from the thalamus like most other sensory nerves - Hearing:
Temporal lobe, near junction of the central and lateral sulci. Mostly within the lateral sulcus. There is the usual crossover and different tones go to different parts of the cortex. For complex patterns of sounds like speech and music other areas of the cortex become involved.
- Somatic (skin & muscle) Senses:
- Motor:
- Primary Motor ( Muscle Control):
Precentral gyrus (frontal lobe). Arranged like a piano keyboard: stimulation in this area will cause individual muscles to contract. Like the sensory cortex, the arrangement is in the form of an upside-down homunculus. The fibers are crossed- stimulation of the right cortex will cause contraction of a muscle on the left side of the body. - Premotor (Patterns of Muscle Contraction):
Frontal lobe in front of precentral gyrus. This area helps set up learned patterns of muscle contraction (think of walking or running which involve many muscles contracting in just the right order). - Speech-Muscle Control:
Broca's area, frontal lobe, usually in left hemisphere only. This area helps control the patterns of muscle contraction necessary for speech. Disorders in speaking are called aphasias.
- Primary Motor ( Muscle Control):
- Perception:
- Speech- Comprehension:
Wernicke's area, posterior end of temporal lobe, usually left hemisphere only. Thinking about words also involves areas in the frontal lobe. - Speech- Sound/Vision Association:
Angular gyrus, , makes connections between sounds and shapes of words
- Speech- Comprehension:
Surface Tension
1. Maintains stability of alveolus, preventing collapse
2. Surfactant (Type II pneumocytes) = dipalmityl lecithin
3. Type II pneumocyte appears at 24 weeks of gestation;
1. Surfactant production, 28-32 weeks;
2. Surfactant in amniotic fluid, 35 weeks.
3. Laplace equation for thin walled spheres P = 2T
a. P = alveolar internal pressure r
b. T = tension in the walls r = radius of alveolus
4. During normal tidal respiration
1. Some alveoli do collapse (Tidal pressure can't open)
2. Higher than normal pressure needed (Coughing)
3. Deep breaths & sighs promote re-expansion
4. After surgery/Other conditions, Coughing, deep breathing, sustained maximal respiration
Lipids:
- about 40% of the dry mass of a typical cell
- composed largely of carbon & hydrogen
- generally insoluble in water
- involved mainly with long-term energy storage; other functions are as structural components (as in the case of phospholipids that are the major building block in cell membranes) and as "messengers" (hormones) that play roles in communications within and between cells
- Subclasses include:
- Triglycerides - consist of one glycerol molecule + 3 fatty acids (e.g., stearic acid in the diagram below). Fatty acids typically consist of chains of 16 or 18 carbons (plus lots of hydrogens).
- phospholipids - Composed of 2 fatty acids, glycerol, phosphate and polar groups , phosphate group (-PO4) substitutes for one fatty acid & these lipids are an important component of cell membranes
steroids - have 4 rings- cholesterol, some hormones, found in membranes include testosterone, estrogen, & cholesterol