Respiratory System

Upper Respiratory Anatomy

The major passages and structures of the upper respiratory tract include the nose or nostrils, nasal
cavity, mouth, throat (pharynx), and voice box (larynx).

Nose and Nostrils

When you breathe in through your nose or mouth, the air is "filtered" through natural lines of
defense that protect against illness and irritation of the respiratory tract. Nasal hairs (vibrissae) at
the opening of the nostrils trap large particles of dust that might otherwise be inhaled. The entire
respiratory system, as with the reproductive, digestive, and urinary systems, is lined with a
mucous membrane that secretes mucus. The mucus traps smaller particles like pollen or smoke.
Hairlike structures called cilia line the mucous membrane and move the particles trapped in the
mucus out of the nose.

Pharynx

The pharynx is a muscular, funnel-shaped tube about 5 inches long that connects the nasal and
oral cavities to the larynx. The pharynx houses the tonsils and the adenoids, which are lymphatic
tissues that guard against infection by releasing white blood cells (T and B lymphocytes).

Larynx

The larynx forms the entrance to the lower respiratory system. With the help of the epiglottis (a
leaf-shaped flap), the larynx prevents food or liquid from entering the lower respiratory tract
while swallowing. Two pairs of strong connective tissue bands that are stretched across the
larynx vibrate to produce sounds while talking or singing.
Lower Respiratory Anatomy

The major passages and structures of the lower respiratory tract include the windpipe
(trachea) and within the lungs, the bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli.

After the inhaled air moves through the larynx, it reaches the trachea. The trachea is a rigid,
muscular tube about 4.5 inches long and 1 inch wide. Embedded in the walls of the trachea, C-
shaped cartilage rings give the trachea rigidity and allow it to stay open all the time.

Inward airflow from the trachea then branches off to the two bronchi. One bronchus leads
to the right lung, the other to the left lung. The bronchi also contain C-shaped cartilage rings like
the trachea. ). These two main bronchi have branches forming the bronchial tree. Where it enters
the lung, there is then secondary bronchi. In each lung, the secondary bronchi divides into
tertiary bronchi and in turn these divide repeatedly into smaller bronchioles. The bronchioles
control the ratio of resistance to airflow and distribution of air in our lungs. The bronchioles open
into the alveolar ducts. Alveolar sacs are at the end of the ducts. These sacs are chambers that are
connected to several individual alveoli, which makes up the exchange surface of the lungs.

Alveoli

Alveoli are tiny, microscopic structures that are bunched together in grape-like clusters to
form alveolar sacs. On the surface of the alveoli are networks of capillaries (tiny blood vessels)
that carry blood from the veins of other parts of the body. It is here where gas exchange occurs --
carbon dioxide from the blood is exchanged for oxygen from the alveoli. After the oxygenated
blood leaves the alveoli, it travels to the heart, located between the two lungs, where it is pumped
out to the rest of the body. The carbon dioxide is then expelled from your body each time you
exhale.

Lungs

The human respiratory system has two lungs, which contain lobes separated by deep
fissures. Surprisingly, the right lung has three lobes while the left one has only two lobes. The
lungs are made up of elastic fibers that gives it the ability to handle large changes in air volume.
The pleural cavity is where the lungs are located. The diaphragm is the muscle that makes up the
floor of the thoracic cavity and plays a major role in the pressure and volume of air moving in
and out of the lungs.

Diaphragm

The diaphragm is located directly below the lungs. Along with the intercostal muscles (the
muscles between the ribs), the diaphragm is a major respiration muscle. The diaphragm is a
large, dome-shaped muscle that contracts and flattens during inhalation, which causes the chest
cavity to expand. This maneuver creates a vacuum which pulls air into the lungs. During
exhalation, the diaphragm then relaxes, returns to its previous shape, and air is forced out of the
lungs.
The Alveoli and Gas Exchange

Diffusion is the movement of materials from a higher to a lower concentration. The

differences between oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations are measured by partial
pressures. The greater the difference in partial pressure the greater the rate of diffusion.
Respiratory pigments increase the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Humans have the red-
colored pigment hemoglobin as their respiratory pigment. Hemoglobin increases the oxygen-
carrying capacity of the blood between 65 and 70 times. Each red blood cell has about 250
million hemoglobin molecules, and each milliliter of blood contains 1.25 X 1015 hemoglobin
molecules. Oxygen concentration in cells is low (when leaving the lungs blood is 97% saturated
with oxygen), so oxygen diffuses from the blood to the cells when it reaches the capillaries.

Carbon dioxide concentration in metabolically active cells is much greater than in

capillaries, so carbon dioxide diffuses from the cells into the capillaries. Water in the blood
combines with carbon dioxide to form bicarbonate. This removes the carbon dioxide from the
blood so diffusion of even more carbon dioxide from the cells into the capillaries continues yet
still manages to "package" the carbon dioxide for eventual passage out of the body.
In the alveoli capillaries, bicarbonate combines with a hydrogen ion (proton) to form
carbonic acid, which breaks down into carbon dioxide and water. The carbon dioxide then
diffuses into the alveoli and out of the body with the next exhalation

Mechanics of Respiration

 Air flows into and out of the lungs when air pressure within the alveoli differs from the
pressure of external air.
  When alveolar pressure is less than atmospheric pressure, air flows into the lungs, and
inspiration occurs.
 The pressure in the lungs is varied by changes in the volume of the thoracic cavity.
 These changes are brought about by the contraction and relaxation of the
muscular diaphragm and the intercostal muscles.

Pulmonary Ventilation: Muscles of Inspiration and Expiration

 Inhalation is accomplished by contracting the diaphragm, which flattens it and

lengthens the thoracic cavity and by contracting the intercostal muscles that pull
the rib cages up and out.
• These movements enlarge the thoracic cavity, the pressure within it falls,
and air moves into the lungs.
 Air is forced out of the lungs as the muscles relax, reducing the volume of the
chest cavity and increasing the pressure.

Control of Respiration

Muscular contraction and relaxation controls the rate of expansion and constriction of the
lungs. These muscles are stimulated by nerves that carry messages from the part of the brain that
controls breathing, the medulla. Two systems control breathing: an automatic response and a
voluntary response. Both are involved in holding your breath.
Although the automatic breathing regulation system allows you to breathe while you
sleep, it sometimes malfunctions. Apnea involves stoppage of breathing for as long as 10
seconds, in some individuals as often as 300 times per night. This failure to respond to elevated
blood levels of carbon dioxide may result from viral infections of the brain, tumors, or it may
develop spontaneously. A malfunction of the breathing centers in newborns may result in SIDS
(sudden infant death syndrome).
As altitude increases, atmospheric pressure decreases. Above 10,000 feet decreased
oxygen pressures causes loading of oxygen into hemoglobin to drop off, leading to lowered
oxygen levels in the blood. The result can be mountain sickness (nausea and loss of appetite).
Mountain sickness does not result from oxygen starvation but rather from the loss of carbon
dioxide due to increased breathing in order to obtain more oxygen.

Respiratory Air Volumes

 Tidal Volume--Volume of air moved in or out of the lungs during quiet breathing--about
500 mL.
 Inspiratory Reserve Volume--Volume that can be inhaled during forced breathing in
addition to tidal volume--3000mL.
 Expiratory Reserve Volume--Volume that can be exhaled during forced breathing in
addition to tidal volume--1100 mL.
 Vital Capacity--Maximum volume that can be exhaled after taking the deepest breath.
VC = TV + IRV + ERV
 Residual Volume--Volume that remains in the lungs at all times--1200 mL.
 Total Lung Capacity--Total volume of air that the lungs can hold.TLC = VC + RV

Control of Respiration

Muscular contraction and relaxation controls the rate of expansion and constriction of the lungs.
These muscles are stimulated by nerves that carry messages from the part of the brain that
controls breathing, the medulla. Two systems control breathing: an automatic response and a
voluntary response. Both are involved in holding your breath.

Although the automatic breathing regulation system allows you to breathe while you sleep, it
sometimes malfunctions. Apnea involves stoppage of breathing for as long as 10 seconds, in
some individuals as often as 300 times per night. This failure to respond to elevated blood levels
of carbon dioxide may result from viral infections of the brain, tumors, or it may develop
spontaneously.

Circulatory System

The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients (such as amino
acids, electrolytes and lymph), gases, hormones, blood cells, etc. to and fromcells in the body to
help fight diseases and help stabilize body temperature and pH to maintain homeostasis.

This system may be seen strictly as a blood distribution network, but some consider the
circulatory system as composed of the cardiovascular system, which distributes blood, and
the lymphatic system, which distributes lymph. While humans, as well as other vertebrates,
have a closed cardiovascular system (meaning that the blood never leaves the network
of arteries, veins and capillaries), some invertebrate groups have an open cardiovascular system.
The lymphatic system, on the other hand, is an open system.

Pulmonary circulation

Pulmonary circulation is the portion of the cardiovascular system which carries oxygen-depleted
blood away from the heart, to the lungs, and returns oxygenated blood back to the heart. The
term is contrasted with systemic circulation.

Course

In the pulmonary circulation, deoxygenated blood exits the heart through the pulmonary arteries,
enters the lungs and oxygenated blood comes back through pulmonary veins. The blood moves
from right ventricle of the heart to the lungs back to the left atrium.
Right heart

Oxygen-depleted blood from the body leaves the systemic circulation when it enters the right
heart, more specifically the right atrium through the superior vena cava. The blood is then
pumped through the tricuspid valve (or right atrioventricular valve), into the right ventricle.

Arteries

From the right ventricle, blood is pumped through the pulmonary semilunar valve into the
pulmonary artery. This blood enters the two pulmonary arteries (one for each lung) and travels
through the lungs.

Lungs

The pulmonary arteries carry blood to the lungs, where red blood cells release carbon dioxide
and pick up oxygen during respiration. Exchanges carbon dioxide for oxygen in the lungs.

Veins

The oxygenated blood then leaves the lungs through pulmonary veins, which return it to the left
heart, completing the pulmonary cycle. This blood then enters the left atrium, which pumps it
through the bicuspid valve, also called the mitral or left atrioventricular valve, into the left
ventricle. The blood is then distributed to the body through the systemic circulation before
returning again to the pulmonary circulation.

Systemic Circulation

Systemic circulation is the part of the cardiovascular system which

carries oxygenated blood away from the heart to the body, and returns deoxygenated blood back
to the heart. This physiologic theory of circulation was first described by William Harvey.

Systemic circulation is when blood leaves the heart goes to every cell in the body and then re-
enters the heart, blood leaves through the left ventricle to the aorta the bodies largest artery, the
aorta leads to smaller arteries, arteroiles, and finally capularies, waste and carbon dixiode diffuse
out of the cell into the blood and oxygen in the blood diffueses out of the blood and into the cell,
blood then moves to venious capularies, and then the superior vena cava,lower and then to the
inferior vena cava, upper at the inferior vena cava the blood re-enters the heart at the right
atrium.

Arteries
oxygenated blood enters the systemic circulation when leaving the left ventricle, through the
aortic semilunar valve. The first part of the systemic circulation is the aorta, a massive and thick-
walled artery. The aorta arches and branches into major arteries to the upper body before passing
through the diaphragm, where it branches further into arteries which supply the lower parts of the
body.
Capillaries

Arterioles divide finally into capillaries, which are the thinnest and most numerous of the blood
vessels. These capillaries help to carry arterial blood to the close vicinity of body cells,
facilitating the diffusion of oxygen and nutrients from the blood into the cells. At the same time,
carbon dioxide and waste products diffuse from the cells into the bloodstream.
Veins

After their passage through body tissues, capillaries merge once again into venules, which
continue to merge into veins. The venous system finally coalesces into two major veins:
the superior vena cava (roughly speaking draining the areas above the heart) and the inferior
vena cava (roughly speaking from areas below the heart). These two great vessels empty into
the right atrium of the heart.

Liver
The liver is a reddish brown organ with four lobes of unequal size and shape. A human liver
normally weighs between 1.4–1.6 kg (3.1–3.5 lb), and is a soft, pinkish-brown, triangular organ.
It is both the largest internal organ (the skin being the largest organ overall) and the
largest gland in the human body.

It is located in the right upper quadrant of the abdominal cavity, resting just below
the diaphragm. The liver lies to the right of the stomach and overlies the gallbladder. It is
connected to two large blood vessels, one called the hepatic artery and one called the portal vein.
The hepatic artery carries blood from the aorta whereas the portal vein carries blood containing
digested nutrients from the small intestine and the descending colon. These blood vessels
subdivide into capillaries which then lead to a lobule. Each lobule is made up of millions of
hepatic cells which are the basic metabolic cells.

Functions of the liver:

 The liver performs several roles in carbohydrate metabolism:

 Gluconeogenesis (the synthesis of glucose from certain amino
acids, lactate or glycerol)
 Glycogenolysis (the breakdown of glycogen into glucose)
 Glycogenesis (the formation of glycogen from glucose)(muscle tissues can also do
this)
 responsible for the mainstay of protein metabolism, synthesis as well as degradation
 performs several roles in lipid metabolism:
 Cholesterol synthesis
 Lipogenesis, the production of triglycerides (fats).
 produces and excretes bile (a yellowish liquid) required for emulsifying fats. Some of the
bile drains directly into the duodenum, and some is stored in the gallbladder.
 produces insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a polypeptide protein hormone that plays
an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects in adults.
 major site of thrombopoietin production. Thrombopoietin is a glycoprotein hormone that
regulates the production of platelets by the bone marrow.
 The breakdown of insulin and other hormones
 The liver breaks down hemoglobin, creating metabolites that are added to bile as pigment
(bilirubin and biliverdin).
 The liver breaks down or modifies toxic substances (e.g., methylation) and most
medicinal products in a process called drug metabolism. This sometimes results
 in toxication, when the metabolite is more toxic than its precursor. Preferably, the toxins
are conjugated to avail excretion in bile or urine.
 The liver converts ammonia to urea.
 The liver stores a multitude of substances, including glucose (in the form
of glycogen), vitamin A (1–2 years' supply), vitamin D (1–4 months' supply), vitamin
B12 (1-3 years' supply), iron, and copper.
 The liver is responsible for immunological effects- the reticuloendothelial system of the
liver contains many immunologically active cells, acting as a 'sieve' for antigens carried
to it via the portal system.
 The liver produces albumin, the major osmolar component of blood serum.
 The liver synthesizes angiotensinogen, a hormone that is responsible for raising the blood
pressure when activated by renin, an enzyme that is released when the kidney senses low
blood pressure.

Blood flow
The liver receives a dual blood supply from the hepatic portal vein and hepatic arteries.
Supplying approximately 75% of the liver's blood supply, the hepatic portal vein carries venous
blood drained from the spleen,gastrointestinal tract, and its associated organs. The hepatic
arteries supply arterial blood to the liver, accounting for the remainder of its blood flow. Oxygen
is provided from both sources; approximately half of the liver's oxygen demand is met by the
hepatic portal vein, and half is met by the hepatic arteries.