HISTOLOGY

CHAPTER 11: THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

OUTLINE from that of the ventricles, forms part of the
Heart interventricular and interatrial septa and extends
Tissues of the Vascular Wall
Vasculature into the valve cusps and the chordae tendineae to
Elastic Arteries which they are attached; functions include:
Arterial Sensory Structures o Surrounding, anchoring and supporting all
Muscular Arteries heart valves
Capillary Beds
Venules
o Providing firm points of insertion of
Veins cardiac muscle in the atria and ventricles
Lymphatic Vascular System o Helping coordinate the heartbeat by acting
as electrical insulation between atria and
Heart ventricles
 Right ventricle – pumps blood to the pulmonary  Conducting system of the heart – modified cardiac
circulation muscle cells specialized to generate and conduct
 Left ventricle – pumps blood to the systemic waves of depolarization which stimulate rhythmic
circulation contractions in adjacent myocardial fibers; consists
 Right atria – receives blood from the body of two nodes: Sinoatrial node and Atrioventricular
 Left atria – receives blood from the pulmonary node from which the AV bundle emerges
veins  Sinoatrial (SA) Node – located in the right atrial
wall near the superior vena cava; 6-7 mm 3 region
of less well-stained cardiac muscle cells with
smaller size, fewer myofibrils and fewer typical
intercalated discs than the neighboring contractile
fibers; impulses initiated move along myocardial
fibers of both atria
 Atrioventricular (AV) node – located in the floor
of the right atrium near the AV valve, composed of
cells similar to the SA node; they stimulate
depolarization of myocytes
Figure 1. Overview of the heart
 AV bundle – passes through an opening in the
Three Major Layers cardiac skeleton into the interventricular septum
 Endocardium – consists of the lining endothelium, where it bifurcates into left and right bundles of
myocytes located within the myocardium and
its supporting layer of fibroelastic connective
subendocardial layer
tissue with scattered fibers of smooth muscle, and
a deeper layer of connective tissue (subendocardial  Purkinje fibers – conducting network of cardiac
layer) surrounding variable numbers of modified muscle fibers; pale-staining fibers, larger than the
cardiac muscle fibers which comprise the heart’s adjacent contractile fibers, with sparse, peripheral
impulse conducting system myofibrils, and much glycogen
 Myocardium – consists mainly of typically
Tissue of the Vascular Wall
contractile cardiac muscle fibers arranged spirally
around each heart chamber; the myocardium is  Wall of all blood vessels except capillaries contain
much thicker in the walls of the ventricles, smooth muscle and connective tissue in addition to
particularly the left, than the atrial walls the endothelial lining
 Epicardium – simple squamous mesothelium  Endothelium – specialized epithelium that acts as a
supported by a layer of loose connective tissue semipermeable barrier between two major internal
containing blood vessels and nerves; corresponds compartments: the blood and the interstitial tissue
to the visceral layer of the pericardium fluid; plays a key role in metabolite exchanges
between blood and tissues; other functions include:
o Presents a non-thrombogenic surface on
which blood will not clot and actively
secretes agents that control local clot
formation
o Regulate local vascular tone and blood
flow by secreting various factors that
stimulate smooth muscle contraction
Figure 2. Layers of the cardiac wall o Inflammation and local immune response
 Weibel-palade bodies – unique
 Cardiac skeleton – dense irregular connective
elongated granules that fuse with
tissue that separates the musculature of the atria

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HISTOLOGY 2ND SEMESTER (2022-2023)
the cell membrane to express P-  Vasa vasorum (vessels of the vessels) – provides
selectin metabolites to cells in those tunics in larger vessels
o Secrete various growth factors Vasculature
 Vasculogenesis – formation of the vascular system Elastic Arteries
from embryonic mesenchyme  Elastic arteries – also called conducting arteries;
 Angiogenesis – capillary sprouting and outgrowth major role is to carry blood to smaller arteries;
from small existing vessels most prominent feature is the thick tunica media in
 Angiopoietins – stimulate endothelial cells to which elastic lamellae alternate with layers of
recruit smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts to form smooth muscle fibers; tunica intima is well
the other tissues of the vascular wall developed with many smooth muscle cells in the
 Smooth muscle fibers – occurs in the walls of all subendothelial connective tissue; tunica adventitia
vessels larger than capillaries and are arranged is much thinner than the media
helically in layers
 Connective tissue components are present in
vascular walls in variable amounts and proportions
based on local functional requirements
o Collagen fibers – found in the
subendothelial layer, between the smooth
muscle layers and the outer covering
o Elastic fibers – provide resiliency required
for the vascular wall to expand under
pressure
o Elastin – a major component in large
arteries where it forms parallel lamellae,
regularly distributed between the muscle
layers Figure 4. Elastic Artery
Layers of the Vascular Wall Arterial Sensory Structures
1. Tunica intima – innermost; consists of  Carotid sinuses – slight dilations of the bilateral
endothelium and a thin subendothelial layer of internal carotid arteries where they branch from
loose connective tissue sometimes containing the (elastic) common carotid arteries; act as
smooth muscle fibers baroreceptors monitoring arterial blood pressure
a. Elastic lamina – composed of elastin, with  Chemoreceptors – found in carotid bodies (carotid
holes allowing better diffusion of sinuses) and aortic bodies (aortic arch) that
substances from blood deeper into the wall monitor blood CO2, O2 pH levels
2. Tunica media – middle layer; consists chiefly of  Glomus cells – large, neural-crest derived cells;
concentric layers of helically arranged smooth filled with dense-core vesicles containing
muscle cells dopamine, acetylcholine and other
3. Tunica adventitia or tunica externa – connective neurotransmitters
tissue consisting principally of type I collagen and Muscular Arteries
elastic fibers; continuous with and bound to the  Muscular arteries – also called distributing arteries,
stroma of the organ through which the blood distribute blood to the organs and help regulate
vessels run blood pressure by contracting or relaxing the
smooth muscle in the media

Figure 3. Walls of arteries and veins

Figure 5. Muscular Artery

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HISTOLOGY 2ND SEMESTER (2022-2023)
Arterioles 1. Continuous capillaries – the most common type,
 Arterioles – have one or two smooth muscle layer have tight occluding junctions sealing the
indicating the beginning of an organ’s intercellular cleft between all the endothelial cells
microvasculature where exchanges between blood to produce minimal fluid leakage; all molecules
and tissue fluid occur; generally <0.1 mm in exchanged across the endothelium must cross the
diameter with lumens approximately as wide as the cells by diffusion or transcytosis
wall is thick 2. Fenestrated capillaries – also have tight junctions,
 Arteriovenous shunts (or arteriovenous but perforations (fenestrations) through the
anastomoses) – arterioles can bypass capillary endothelial cells allow greater; found in organs
networks and connect directly to venules where molecular exchange with the blood is more
 Portal system – blood flows through two important, such as endocrine organs, intestinal
successive capillary beds separated by a portal walls and choroid plexus
vein 3. Discontinuous capillaries – commonly called
sinusoids, usually have a wider diameter than the
other types and have discontinuities between the
endothelial cells, large fenestrations through the
cells, and a partial, discontinuous basement
membrane; found in organs where exchange of
macromolecules and cells occurs readily between
tissue and blood, such as in bone marrow, liver,
and spleen

Figure 6. Arterioles Figure 8. Types of capillaries

Capillary Beds  Pericytes – mesenchymal cells; secrete ECM
components and form their own basal lamina,
 Capillaries – permit and regulate metabolic
which fuses with the basement membrane of
exchange between blood and surrounding tissues;
endothelial cells
composed of a simple layer of endothelial cells
Venules
rolled up as a tube surrounded by basement
membrane; average diameter varies from 4-10 μm,  Postcapillary venules – are the primary site at
which allows transit of blood cells only one at a which white blood cells adhere to endothelium and
time; make up over 90% of the body’s vasculature leave the circulation at sites of infection or tissue
damage; converge into larger collecting-venules
that have more distinct contractile cells

Figure 7. Capillary with pericytes

 Capillary beds – supplied preferentially by one or
more terminal arteriole branch called
metarterioles, which are continuous with
thoroughfare channels connected with the
postcapillary venules Figure 9. Venules
 Metarteriole – act as precapillary sphincters that
control blood flow into the capillaries; contract and Veins
relax cyclically, with 5-10 cycles per minute,
 Veins – carry blood back to the heart from
causing blood to pass through capillaries in a
microvasculature all over the body; most veins are
pulsatile manner
classified as small or medium veins with diameters
Histologic Types of Capillaries
of 10 mm or less

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HISTOLOGY 2ND SEMESTER (2022-2023)

Figure 10. Veins

 Valves – important feature of large and medium

veins; consist of thin, paired folds of the tunica
intima projecting across the lumen, rich in elastic
fibers and covered on both sides by endothelium

Lymphatic Vascular System

 Lymphatic capillaries – collect excess interstitial
fluid from the tissue spaces as lymph and return it
to the blood

Figure 11. Lymphatic capillary

 Lymphatic vessel – formed when capillaries

converge; extremely thin walls

Figure 12. Lymphatic vessels and valve

 Lymph nodes – where lymph is processed by cells

of the immune system

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