Explain the following terms:
(a) Endothelium
(b) Lymph nodes
(c) Venule
(d) Diastole
Answers
Question
Explain the following terms:
(a) Endothelium
(b) Lymph nodes
(c) Venule
(d) Diastole
Answer
◇Endothelial cells form a single cell layer that lines all blood vessels and regulates exchanges between the bloodstream and the surrounding tissues.
◇Signals from endothelial cells organize the growth and development of connective tissue cells that form the surrounding layers of the blood-vessel wall.
◇Lymph nodes are small structures that work as filters for harmful substances.
◇They contain immune cells that can help fight infection by attacking and destroying germs that are carried in through the lymph fluid.
◇There are hundreds of lymph nodes throughout the body.
◇A venule is a very small blood vessel in the microcirculation that allows blood to return from the capillary beds to drain into the larger blood vessels, the veins.
◇Venules range from 7μm to 1mm in diameter. Veins contain approximately 70% of total blood volume, 25% of which is contained in the venules.
◇Diastole, in the cardiac cycle, period of relaxation of the heart muscle, accompanied by the filling of the chambers with blood.
◇Diastole is followed in the cardiac cycle by a period of contraction, or systole (q.v.), of the heart muscle.