BIOL 221 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Vascular Smooth Muscle, Extracellular Fluid, Partial Pressure

• School: Towson University
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIOL 221
• Professor: Ellen Lathrop-Davis

Document Summary

Internal respiration is most affected by the partial pressure gradient of gases between the plasma and interstitial fluid. These partial pressures depend heavily on gradients established during external respiration, which themselves depend on ventilation. The rate of blood flow helps maintain the gradients. Review the factors that affect blood flow through a systemic tissue in topic 4. Recall that the more active a tissue is, the higher the rate of flow through it because of the effects of carbon dioxide, oxygen, ph, temperature, potassium, and adp on vascular smooth muscle. Another factor that affects exchange is the surface area available. Recall from topic 4 that heavy use of a tissue (especially the myocardium or skeletal muscle) can cause angiogenesis; the formation of additional capillaries increases the ability to deliver oxygen to the tissue. Basic ventilation consists of regular, unnconscious, rhythmic patterns.