Circulatory Systems III

Mammals & Birds

Mammals & Birds

Atrioventricular (AV) valves: located

between atrias and ventricles and ensure
one-way flow
Right AV valve = tricuspid valve
Left AV valve = bicuspid valve

Chordate tendinae: anchor valves to the

papillary muscles and prevent them from
opening backwards.

Mammals & Birds

Tricuspid Valve

Bicuspid Valve

Mammals & Birds

Flow of Blood

Flow of Blood

Oxygenated or Deoxygenated?

Systemic Arteries?
Heart to body tissues oxygenated blood

Systemic Veins?
Body tissues to heart deoxygenated blood

Pulmonary Arteries?
Heart to lungs deoxygenated blood

Pulmonary Veins?
Lungs to heart oxygenated blood

The Cardiac Cycle

Cardiac Cycle:
Rhythmic Pumping of Heart

2 Phases of Cardiac Cycle =

1. Systole contraction
2. Diastole relaxation

The Cardiac Cycle

Fish Cardiac Cycle:

Chambers contract in series

The Cardiac Cycle

Mammalian Cardiac Cycle:

Coordinated contraction of atria and ventricles

The Cardiac Cycle

Cardiac Cycle

Mid Ventricular Diastole:

Atria and ventricles are relaxed,
AV valves are open,
Semilunar valves are closed.

Mammals and birds:

Blood returning to heart passes thru the atria and
goes into the ventricles passively.

Fish and some amphibians:

Ventricles fill primarily by contraction of the atrium.

Cardiac Cycle

Atrial Systole:
Atria contract and additional blood gets pushed
into ventricles.

Blood is pumped into the ventricles until

they reach end-diastolic volume (EDV),
the max amount of blood in the ventricle.

Cardiac Cycle

Early Ventricular Systole:

Ventricles contract.
pressure cause AV valves to shut.
Semilunar valves are closed.

Isovolumetric contraction:
Blood is non-compressible, so pressure in the
chamber increases but volume does not.

Cardiac Cycle

Late Ventricular Systole:

Pressure forces semilunar valves open.
Blood flows out of the ventricles into arteries.
Chordae tendinae prevent AV valves from
being forced open; preventing backflow.

Ventricle has reaches its end systolic

volume (ESV) or blood minimum.

Cardiac Cycle

Early Ventricular Diastole:

Ventricles begin to relax, pressure drops.
Pressure in ventricles drops below that of the
arteries
Backpressure forces semilunar valves shut.

Throughout ventricular systole, the atria

have been in diastole filling with blood.

Pressure in filled atria exceeds pressure in

relaxed ventricles and AV valves pop open.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLTdgrhpDCg

Mammalian Cardiac Cycle

2 ventricles contract simultaneously

Left ventricle contracts much more

forcefully than the right ventricle and
develops a much higher pressure:
Left Ventricle to body high resistance
Right ventricle to lungs low resistance

Control of Contraction

Cardiomyocytes = myogenic

Produce spontaneous rhythmic

depolarizations that initiate contraction.

Electrically coupled via gap junctions:

depolarization in one spreads to adjacent
cells, triggering coordinated contractions.

Control of Contraction

Control of Contraction

Control of Contraction

Pacemaker cells determine the

contraction rate for the entire heart.

In vertebrates these cells are located in

an area of the right atrium called the
Sinoatrial (SA) Node.

Control of Contraction

Pacemaker cells have unstable resting

potentials (pacemaker potential).

Resting potential drifts from -60mV until

it reaches threshold of -40mV.

At -40mV an action potential is initiated

Control of Contraction

Depolarization initiated in the pacemaker

cells can spread from cell to cell via
electronic current spread.

AP triggered in one cell spreads to

adjacent cells propagating the impulse
throughout the heart.

Control of Contraction

Cardiomyocytes have an extended

depolarization = plateau phase

Corresponds to the refractory period of

the cell in which an action potential
cannot fire.

Control of Contraction

Control of Contraction

Small mammals tend to have HRs and

plateau phases than larger mammals
whose hearts beat more slowly.

Impulse Conduction in Fish

Impulse conduction via gap junctions is

sufficient to provide coordinated
contraction of the chambers.

Signal travels from sinus venosus to the

atrium and then to the ventricle.

Contraction occurs in a series.

Mammalian Conducting Pathways

Contractile cells of the atrium and

ventricles do no form gap junctions with
each other.

Mammals utilize conduction pathways

Mammalian Conducting Pathways

Mammalian Conducting Pathways

SA node initiates the action potential

Depolarization spreads rapidly via internodal

pathway through the walls of the atria.

Depolarization reaches atrioventricular

(AV) node which communicates signal to
the ventricle.

AV node causes signal delay

allows atrium to finish contracting before

ventricles contract.

Mammalian Conducting Pathways

Signal travels from the AV node through

the bundles of his (hiss)

Electrical signal spreads into a network of

conducting pathways - purkinje fibers.

Signal spreads cell to cell via gap junctions

and ventricles contract.

Electrocardiogram (EKG)

Deflections = markers of electrical

activity of the heart

Electrocardiogram (EKG)

P wave = atrial depolarization

QRS complex = ventricular

depolarization and atrial repolarization

T wave = ventricular repolarization

Cardiac Output

Cardiac Output (CO) = the amount of

blood that the heart pumps per unit time.

CO = HR x SV
Heart rate (HR) = beats per minute
Stroke volume (SV) = amount of blood
pumped per beat

Cardiac Output

Animals can modulate CO by regulating

HR, SV, or both.

Decreasing HR = bradycardia
Increasing HR = tachycardia

Nervous and endocrine systems

modulate force of contraction (SV)

Frank-Starling Effect

When blood enters a ventricle, the

increased volume causes it to stretch.

The more blood that enters the heart at

the end of diastole (EDV), the greater the
degree of stretch.

Frank-Starling Effect = autoregulation

as you stretch a cardiomyocyte the strength

of contraction increases.

Frank-Starling Effect

Allows the heart to automatically

compensate for increases in the amount
of blood returning to the heart.