AS’ BIOLOGY

Lungs
04 DECEMBER 2010
D AV E JOHNSON

Key points to remember

 Structure of human gas ex-
change system. (Never Ever
Let Terrorist Bomb British
Airways; NELTBBA). [Nasal
Cavity, Epiglottis, Larynx,
Trachea, Bronchi, Bronchi-
oles, Alveoli]
 The Function of the lung can
be affected by both pathogens
and lifestyle.
 The ending ‘-ioles’ is com-
monly used in biology to
donate a smaller version of a
structure. Hence ‘bronchioles’
are small bronchi and
‘arterioles’ are small arteries.
 Essential features of exchange
surfaces.
 Role of alveoli in gas ex-
change.
 Lung disease - pulmonary
tuberculosis.
 Non-infectious respiratory
disease - pulmonary fibrosis,
asthma and emphysema.
Lung
One of a pair of gas exchange organs found
in the chest of mammals and some other
chordates such as fish. When you look at
lung tissue with a microscope, you will see
three distinct types of structure: alveoli,
airways and blood vessels. Alveoli are the
tiny thin-walled air sacs in the lungs where
gas exchange takes place. Air is taken into
and expelled from the lungs through the
trachea and bronchi. The bronchi branch
leads into a system of tubes like bronchi-
oles. The lung are well supplied with
blood. You can see arteries, veins and cap- mals because: They are relatively large
illaries in suitable sections. organisms with large volume of living
cells, and they have to maintain a high
Mammals have evolved these specialized
body temperature and therefore have high
surfaces, called lungs, to ensure efficient
metabolic and respiratory rates.
gas exchange between air and their blood.
the volume of oxygen that has to be ab-
sorbed and the volume of carbon dioxide
that must be removed are large in mam-

 Mechanism of breathing - Str ucture of th e h uman gas -exc h ange s ystem

inspiration and expiration.
 Knowledge and interpreting
graphs relating spirometer.
 Lung volumes and capacities
The lungs are supported and
protected by rib cage. The ribs
can be moved by the muscles
between them known as in-
tercoastal muscles. This en-
ables lungs to be ventilated by
a tidal stream air, this ensures
that the air inside the lungs are
constantly toped up. The lung
s are a pair of lobed structures
made up of a serious of highly
branched tubules, called bron-
chioles, which end up in tiny
air sac called alveoli.
The trachea is a flexible airway
that is supported by rings of
cartilage. The cartilage pre-
vents the trachea from collaps-
ing as the air pressure inside
falls when breathing in. They
are C-shaped rings of cartilage
which prevent the tube from
collapsing as air is breathed it.
It is lined with ciliated epithe-
lial cells. There are also goblet
cells and cilia to provide non-
specific defence mechanism.
The bronchi are two divisions
of the trachea, each leading to
one lung. They got a similar
structure to trachea, although
the amount of cartilage is re-
duced as the bronchi get
smaller.

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 LUNGS

Role of alveoli in gas exc h ange

The alveoli are minute air-sac,
with diameter of between
100µm and 300µm, at the end
of bronchioles. They contain
some collagen and elastic fi-
bres, and they are lined with
epithelium. The elastic fibers
allow the alveoli to stretch as
they fill with air when breath-
ing in. They then spring back
during breathing out in order
to expel the carbon dioxide-
rich air. The alveolar mem-
brane is the gas exchange sur-
face.
There are about 300 million
alveoli in each human lung.
Their total surface area is
around 70 m2. Each alveolus is
lined mostly with epithelial
cells only 0.05µm to 0.30µm
thick. Around each alveolus is a
network of pulmonary capillar-
ies, so narrow that the red
blood cells (RBC) are flattened
against the thin capillary walls
in order to squeeze through.
These capillaries have walls that
are only a single layer of cells
thick. Diffusion of gases be-
tween the alveoli and the blood
will be rapid because: RBCs are
slowed as they pass through
pulmonary capillaries, allowing
more time for diffusion, the
distance between the alveolar
air and RBCs are reduced, the
walls of both alveoli epithelial
cells and capillary endothelial
cells are very thin and therefore
the distance over the diffusion
takes place very short, alveoli
and pulmonary capillaries have
a very large total surface area,
breathing movement constantly
ventilates providing a steep
concentration gradient and the
blood flow through the pulmo-
nary capillaries also maintain a
concentration gradient.

Essential features of gas exc hange surfaces

“ the diffusion pathway To enable sufficient transfer of materials across them by diffusion or active transport, exchange sur-
faces have the following characteristics:
is short because the
 They have a large surface area to volume ratio - to speed up the rate of exchange.
alveoli have only a
 They are very thin - to keep the diffusion pathway short and so allow materials to cross rapidly.
single layer of epithelial
 They are partially permeable - to allow selected materials to diffuse easily.
cells and the blood
capillaries have only a  There is movement of the environment medium, e.g. air - to maintain a diffusion gradient.

single layer of  There is movement of the internal medium, e.g. blood - to maintain a diffusion gradient.

endothelial cells”

Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is an infectious
disease, commonly called TB,
caused in humans by the bacte-
rium Mycobacterium Tubercu-
losis. Although it can infect any
part of the body, tuberculosis
usually infects the lungs. Tu-
berculosis was once common
worldwide and was a major
killer in childhood and early
adult life. Its rate of TB has
PAGE 2 fallen and continues to fall in
developed countries, but it still
remains as a major problem in upper regions of the lungs,
poorer countries. where there is plenty of oxy-
gen. This forms small lumps
This Infection is passed from
called tubercles. The body’s
person to person in flying
immune system and white
droplets (produced by cough-
blood cells gather at the site of
ing or sneezing). Basically tiny
infection to ingest the bacteria.
droplets of mucus carrying
Thus in a high proportion of
bacteria are sprayed out and
cases, the body’s immune sys-
may enter the lungs of other
tem then stops the bacteria
people when they breathe in.
reproducing and healing oc-
The bacteria breathed into
curs, leaving a scar.
lungs then multiply within the

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Asthma
Asthma is a condition in which
the flow of air into the gas
exchange surface of the lungs
is restricted. Cells in the lin-
ing of the bronchi become
sensitive to substances such as
smoke, pollen or other atmos-
pheric pollutants. Further
expose to these substances
brings about an immune re-
sponse which triggers an asth-
matic attach. To smooth mus-
cle in the walls of the bronchi
that has contracts these sub-
stances. This results in produc-
ing large amounts of mucus.
This leads to narrowing of the
Pu lmon ary F ib ro sis
As a result of any accidental or
deliberate injury, the tissue in
lung thickens, especially the
walls of alveoli. This is known
as pulmonary fibrosis. The rate
of diffusion is reduced as a
result of this disease. The wall
of the alveoli in people who
contacted pulmonary fibrosis
are also stiffer, so people with
this condition often have diffi-
culty with breathing; shortness
of breath, mainly during
breathing out. Respiratory
Emphysema
Emphysema is a lung disease in
which the walls of the alveoli
or air sacs break down. This
results in the alveoli to swell
up. As a result of alveoli’s
enlarging, the total area of thin
walls is much less and gas ex-
change becomes less efficient.
It is not understood how em-
physema occurs, however
smoking is the cause in vast
majority of cases. It is also
associated with chronic bron-
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airways and limits the amount
of air that can reach the alve-
oli. Symptoms that are caused
by asthma are wheezing, dry
unpleasant cough, chest tight-
ness and shortness of breath.
Asthma cannot be ‘cured’.
However, about half of the
children who develop asthma
‘grow out of it’ by the time
they are adults, but treatment
usually works as well to ease
and prevent symptoms. Treat-
ment is usually with inhalers.
A person with asthma may
take a preventer inhaler every-
day to prevent symptoms, or
path way is also seemed to be
dry, causing whooping cough.
Loss of appetite and rapid
weight loss is possible after-
math of this disease, this lead
to fatigue and weakness, in-
cluding chest comfort.
chitis, a disease in lung the
gradually develops. Severe
emphysema results in breath-
lessness and to treat a patient
may be providing oxygen,
through oxygen masks to ease
the symptoms. As well as
other steroids, mucus thinning
medicines etc. The most im-
portant treatment is to stop
smoking. Usually it is long
lasting and changes in the con-
AS’ BIOLOGY
use a reliever inhaler when
required, if the symptoms flare
up. Symptoms of asthma may
be made worse, in certain
situations. Such as infections;
particularly cold cough and
chest infections, pollens and
moulds, certain drugs, smok-
ing cigarette fumes and may
possibly due to stress, emo-
tional upset or even laughter.
“Non infectious respiratory
disease are categorized
according to whether they
prevent air reaching the alveoli
(obstructive) or whether they
affect the gas exchange tissue
itself (restrictive).”
“They are also classified by
difficulty in breathing and the
end result is similar in that gas
exchange rates are too low to
meet metabolic requirements.”
dition often only takes place
gradually.
PAGE 3
 DAVE JOHNSON
Pulmonary ventilation =
tidal volume + ventilation rate
PAGE 4
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M ec h anism of breath ing
Ventilation consists of inspira-
tion and expiration. The move-
ment of diaphragm, intercostals
muscles and ribcage controls
ventilation. The intercoastal
and diaphragm muscles con-
tract during inspiration. This
causes the ribcage to move
upwards and outwards as well
as the diaphragm to flatten. As
Measur ing lung function
Changes in lung volume can be
measured using a technique
called spirometry also known
as respirometer. Total adult
lung volume varies between 4
and 6 litres (dm3) and greater
in males. A simple spirometer
consists of a weight drum, con-
taining oxygen of air, inverted
over a chamber of water. A
tube connects the air-filled
Lung volumes and capacities
The air in the lungs can be di-
vided into volumes. Lung ca-
pacities are combination of
volumes
Description of volume
 Tidal volume (TV) - vol-
ume of air breathed in and
out in a single breath
 Inspiratory reserve volume
(IRV) - volume breathed in
by a maximum inspiration
at the end of a normal inspi-
ration
 Expiratory reserve volume
(EVR) - volume breathed
out by a maximum effort at
the end of a normal expira-
tion.
the volume of the thorax in-
creases the lung pressure de-
creases (to below atmospheric
pressure). This causes the air to
flow into the lungs. Since this
process is an active process – it
requires energy. It is entirely
opposite during expiration i.e.
the intercoastal and diaphragm
muscles relax. The ribcage
chamber with the subject’s
mouth, and soda lime in the
system absorbs the carbon di-
oxide breathed out. Breathing
results in a trace called spi-
rogram, from which lung vol-
umes can be measured directly.
 Residual volume (RV) -
Volume of air remaining in
the lungs at the end of a
maximum expiration.
Description of capacity
 Inspiratory capacity (IC) =
TV + IRV - Volume
breathed in by a maximum
inspiration at the end of a
normal expiration.
 Vital capacity (VC) = IRV
+ TC + ERV - volume that
can be exhaled after a maxi-
mum inspiration.
 Total lung capacity (TLC)
= VC +RC - The total
volume of the lungs. Only a
fraction of TLC is used in
normal breathing.
moves downwards and inwards
and the diaphragm becomes
straight again. The thorax vol-
ume decreases, causing the air
pressure to increase. All these
process lead air to be forced
out of the lungs. Expiration
doesn’t require energy, thus
this is a passive transport.
During inspiration
Air is removed from the cham-
ber, the drum sinks, and an
upward deflection is recorded
on the paper on the rotating
drum.
During expiration
Air is added to the chamber,
the drum rises and a downward
is recorded.
Primary indicators of lung
functions
 Forced expiratory volume
in 1 second (FEV1) The
volume of air that is maxi-
mally exhaled in the first
second of exhalation.
 Forced vital capacity (FVC)
- The total volume of air
that can be forcibly exhaled
after a maximum inspira-
tion