why is placenta called functional junction?
Answers
Explanation:
The placenta is an organ that develops in your uterus during pregnancy. This structure provides oxygen and nutrients to your growing baby and removes waste products from your baby's blood. The placenta attaches to the wall of your uterus, and your baby's umbilical cord arises from it.
The placenta intermediates the transfer ofnutrients between mother and fetus. The perfusion of the intervillous spaces of the placenta with maternal blood allows the transfer of nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the fetus and the transfer of waste products and carbon dioxide back from the fetus to the maternal blood. Nutrient transfer to the fetus can occur via both active and passive transport.Placental nutrient metabolism was found to play a key role in limiting the transfer of some nutrients.Adverse pregnancy situations, such as those involving maternal diabetes or obesity, can increase or decrease levels of nutrient transporters in the placenta potentially resulting in overgrowth or restricted growth of the fetus.
Answer:
The placenta is a unique vascular organ that receives blood supplies from both the maternal and the fetal systems and thus has two separate circulatory systems for blood: (1) the maternal-placental (uteroplacental) blood circulation, and (2) the fetal-placental (fetoplacental) blood circulation. The uteroplacental circulation starts with the maternal blood flow into the intervillous space through decidual spiral arteries. Exchange of oxygen and nutrients take place as the maternal blood flows around terminal villi in the intervillous space. The in-flowing maternal arterial blood pushes deoxygenated blood into the endometrial and then uterine veins back to the maternal circulation. The fetal-placental circulation allows the umbilical arteries to carry deoxygenated and nutrient-depleted fetal blood from the fetus to the villous core fetal vessels. After the exchange of oxygen and nutrients, the umbilical vein carries fresh oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood circulating back to the fetal systemic circulation. At term, maternal blood flow to the placenta is approximately 600–700 ml/minute. It is estimated that the surface area of syncytiotrophoblasts is approximately 12m2 [1] and the length of fetal capillaries of a fully developed placenta is approximately 320 kilometers at term [2,3]. The functional unit of maternal-fetal exchange of oxygen and nutrients occur in the terminal villi. No intermingling of maternal and fetal blood occurs in the placenta. Figure 2.1 illustrates (1) the relationship of the uterus, placenta, and the fetus, and (2) the directions of blood flow from mother to the placenta as well as fetal blood flow from the placenta to the fetus.
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