Respiratory system in Human Beings

Respiration

It is the biochemical oxidation of nutrients at cellular level.

Or

Respiration is the chemical process of releasing energy by breaking down glucose for carrying out life
processes.

Or

Oxidation of food for providing of energy is called as respiration.

 During the process of Respiration, oxygen acquired by organisms from outside the body is used to
break down the food materials to provide energy.
 It occurs in the presence of specific enzymes at optimum temperature in the cells to release energy for
various metabolic activities.
 It is a catabolic process, in which exchange of gasses (viz oxygen and carbon dioxide) takes place
between the body and the outside environment.

Food + Oxygen →Carbon dioxide + Water + Energy

Respiration in Human Beings

 Every cell in the human body needs a constant supply of oxygen to survive.
 The lungs and airways of the Respiratory system deliver this oxygen and also expel waste carbon
dioxide.
 We take in air through the mouth and nose into the lungs.
 Oxygen from the air seeps through the lung membranes into the bloodstream where it is carried to all
the body’s cells.
 These cells burn oxygen to make energy, in a process called cellular respiration.
 This process causes cells to release another gas -carbon dioxide.
 This is carried back in the blood to the lungs to be exhaled.

Stages of Respiration:

In Humans (as in most other animals) there are four major Stages of Respiration:

1. Breathing
2. Gaseous transport
3. Tissue Respiration
4. Cellular Respiration

1. Breathing

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This is a physical process in which the atmospheric air is taken in and forced out of the oxygen-absorbing
organs, the lungs.

2. Gaseous Transport

The oxygen absorbed by the blood in the lungs is carried by the RBCs as oxyhaemoglobin throughout the
body by means of arteries. The carbon dioxide from the tissues is transported to the lungs by the blood by
means of veins in two ways:

 As bicarbonates dissolved in plasma.

 In combination with the hemoglobin of RBCs as carbamino-hemoglobin.

3. Tissue Respiration

The terminal blood vessels, i.e., the capillaries deliver the oxygen to the body cells or tissues where oxygen
diffuses through their thin walls and in a similar way, the capillaries pick up the carbon dioxide released by
them.

4. Cellular Respiration

The complex chemical changes which occur inside the cell to release energy from glucose.

Human Respiratory Organs and their Functions:

 In Human Beings many organs take part in the process of respiration.

 We call them organs of the Respiratory System.

The parts of the Human Respiratory System and their respective functions are as follows

Nose/ Nostrils

 The external part of the nose bears two nostrils separated by a cartilaginous septum.
 The hairs present in the nostrils prevent large particles from entering the system.
 The two nostrils open into a pair of nasal chambers.
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3 Important Functions of Inner lining of the Nasal Chambers

The Inner lining of the Nasal Chambers performs three functions

1. It warms the air as it passes over.

2. It adds moisture to the air.
3. Its mucous secretion entraps harmful particles.

The Pharynx

 The nasal chambers open at the back into a wide cavity, the pharynx, situated at the back of the mouth.
 It is a common passage for air and food.
 It leads into an air tube, the trachea (windpipe) and a food tube (esophagus) located dorsally behind
the trachea. When not in use, the food tube is partially collapsed as it has soft walls.
 The entrance to the trachea is guarded by a flap called Epiglottis which closes it at the time of
swallowing food.
 Incomplete closure of epiglottis during swallowing causes cough.

The Larynx

 The larynx or the voice-box is a hollow cartilaginous structure located at the start of the Windpipe.
 You can feel it with your fingers in the front part of your neck. When you swallow something, this part
rises and falls.
 The larynx contains two ligamentous folds called vocal cords. Air expelled forcibly through the vocal
cords vibrates them producing sound.
 By adjusting the distance between the two cords and their tension by means of attached muscles, a
range of sounds can be produced.

The Trachea

 The trachea is a tube which is commonly known as windpipe.

 The air passes from the pharynx and goes into the trachea. Incomplete rings of cartilage keeps track
open allowing the passage of air to the lungs.
 Trachea doesn’t collapse even when there is no air in it because it has supported by rings of soft bones
called cartilage.
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The Bronchi

The trachea runs down the neck and divides into two smaller tubes called bronchi at its lower end after
entering the thoracic cavity. The two bronchi are connected to the two lungs. The singular of bronchi is
bronchus.

The Bronchioles

Each bronchus divides in the lungs to form a large number of smaller tubes called bronchioles. Each
bronchiole finally terminates into many tiny air sacs at their ends.

The Alveoli

 The pouch like air sacs at the end of the smallest bronchioles is called alveoli.
 A large number of alveoli increase the surface area for the exchange of gases.
 The walls of alveoli are very thin and they are surrounded by very thin blood capillaries.
 It is in the alveoli that oxygen is taken into the body and carbon dioxide is eliminated.
 There are millions of alveoli in the lungs. Human alveolar surface when spread can cover area of 80
square meters.

Protection of respiratory organs:

Ribs

 These are 12 pairs of bones that form a cage in the thoracic region.
 Lungs and heart a safer place.

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  Movement of intercostal muscles attached to ribs help in breathing.

The Lungs

 The Lungs are a pair of spongy and elastic organs formed by the air sacs, their connecting bronchioles,
blood vessels, etc.
 These are primary organs for respiration, which are located on the two sides of heart.
 This transport O2 from the atmosphere into the blood and release CO2 from blood to atmosphere.
 They are enclosed by the protective membrane called pleura.
 The two lungs are roughly cone-shaped, tapering at the top and broad at the bottom.
 The left lung has two lobes and the right lung has three.
 The left lung is slightly smaller to accommodate the heart in between.

Diaphragm

 The diaphragm is a sheet of muscles below the lungs.

 It helps in breathing in and breathing out.
 Diaphragm is the partition between the thorax and the abdomen and forms the base of chest cavity.
 When we breathe in air, the diaphragm and muscles attached to the ribs contract due to which of the
chest cavity expands.
 The expansion movement of the chest increases the volume inside the chest cavity.

Blood Supply to the Lungs

 The right auricle pumps all the deoxygenated blood received in it from the body into the right
ventricle, which in turn, pumps it into the lungs through the main pulmonary artery.
 The pulmonary artery, soon after its emergence, divides into two branches entering their respective
lungs.
 Inside the lungs, they divide and redivide several times to ultimately form capillaries around the air
sacs.
 Veins arising from these capillaries join and rejoin to form two main pulmonary veins from each lung
which pour the oxygenated blood into the left auricle of the heart.

Mechanism of Breathing in Human Beings

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Breathing Definition:

 Breathing is the process by which air rich in oxygen is taken inside the body of human being and air
rich in carbon dioxide is expelled from the body (with the help of breathing organs).
 A breath means one Inhalation plus one Exhalation.

Steps of Mechanism of Breathing in Human Beings:

Breathing Mechanism in Human Beings involves three following steps–

 Inhalation
 Gaseous exchange
 Exhalation

Inhalation –

 Air is taken into the body through nostrils where it is filtered by hair and mucus.
 Air then passes down through the trachea.
 When we breathe in, ribs move up and flatten the diaphragm, due to which the chest cavity becomes
larger.
 Expansion of the chest cavity creates a partial vacuum in the chest cavity.
 As a result, air is sucked into the lungs and fills the expanded alveoli.

Importance of the Respiration Process

 Movement
 Growth
 Keep body temperature constant
 Building large molecules
 Transport of substances
 Relay information
 Maintains homeostasis
 Maintain pH level
 Supports immune system
 Detoxification
 Synthesis of macro molecules.
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Gaseous exchange

Gas Exchange process

 The walls of alveoli contain an extensive network of blood vessels.

 Hemoglobin is the respiratory pigment present in blood binds with oxygen and carries it along the
blood in the body.
 As blood passes through the tissues of the body oxygen from the blood diffuses into the cell, whereas
carbon dioxide which is produced during respiration diffuses into the blood from tissues.
 Blood releases carbon dioxide into alveoli in the lungs that it brings from the whole body for
expiration.

Exhalation

Exhalation process in Human beings

 It is the process in which carbon dioxide from the lungs is given out in the atmosphere.
 The carbon dioxide which is transported in dissolved form in blood from the whole body is passed to
the alveoli.
 Chest cavity is compressed due to relaxation of ribs and diaphragm. Ribs move down and diaphragm
becomes dome shaped decreasing the chest cavity.
 Does push the air out from the lungs to the atmosphere.

Cellular respiration

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  It is a series of chemical reactions that break down glucose to produce ATP, which may be used as
energy to power many reactions throughout the body.
 Each ATP molecule gives 7200 calories of energy. This energy is stored in the form
of phosphate bonds.
 There are three main steps of cellular respiration: glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and oxidative
phosphorylation.
 Glycolysis takes place in the cytoplasm of cell.
 The citric acid cycle occurs in the mitochondrial matrix.
 Oxidative phosphorylation occurs on the inner mitochondrial membrane.
 The starting reactants of cellular respiration include glucose, ATP, and NAD+; and the final products
include ATP and H2O.

Cellular respiration is the process of oxidizing food molecules, like glucose, to carbon dioxide and water.

C6H12O6+6O2+6H2O→12H2O+6CO2+ 38ATP
 The energy released is trapped in the form of ATP for use by all the energy-
consuming activities of the cell. The process occurs in two phases:
 glycolysis, the breakdown of glucose to pyruvic acid the complete oxidation of
pyruvic acid to carbon dioxide and water.

Mitochondria

 Popularly known as the “Powerhouse of the cell,”

 Mitochondria (singular: mitochondrion) are a double membrane-bound organelle
found in most eukaryotic organisms.
 They are found inside the cytoplasm and essentially function as the cell’s “digestive
system.”
 They play a major role in breaking down nutrients and generating energy-rich
molecules for the cell.
 Many of the biochemical reactions involved in cellular respiration take place within
the mitochondria.
 The term ‘mitochondrion’ is derived from the Greek words “mitos” and “chondrion”
which means “thread” and “granules-like”, respectively.
 It was first described by a German pathologist named Richard Altmann in the year
1890.

 Their number within the cell ranges from a few hundred to, in very active cells,
thousands.
 Their main function is the conversion of the potential energy of food molecules into
ATP.

Structure of Mitochondria

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  The mitochondrion is a double-membraned, rod-shaped structure found in both
plant and animal cell.
 Its size ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 micrometre in diameter.
 The structure comprises an outer membrane, an inner membrane, and a gel-like
material called the matrix.
 The outer membrane and the inner membrane are made of proteins and phosphor
lipid layers separated by the inter membrane space.
 The outer membrane covers the surface of the mitochondrion and has a large
number of special proteins known as porins.
 An outer membrane that encloses the entire structure
 An inner membrane that encloses a fluid-filled matrix (A mitochondrial matrix is a
viscous fluid containing a mixture of enzymes, ribosomes, inorganic ions,
mitochondrial DNA, nucleotide cofactors, and organic molecules.)
 Between the two is the inter membrane space
 The inner membrane is elaborately folded with shelf like cristae projecting into the
matrix. (The inner membrane of mitochondria has many folds these folds form a
layered structure called cristae.)
 Small number (some 5–10) circular molecules of DNA.

Functions of Mitochondria:

The most important function of mitochondria is to produce energy through the process of
oxidative phosphorylation.

It is also involved in the following process:

 Regulates the metabolic activity of the cell

 Promotes the growth of new cells and cell multiplication
 Helps in detoxifying ammonia in the liver cells
 Plays an important role in apoptosis or programmed cell death
 Responsible for building certain parts of the blood and various hormones like
testosterone and oestrogen

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  Helps in maintaining an adequate concentration of calcium ions within the
compartments of the cell
 It is also involved in various cellular activities like cellular differentiation, cell
signaling, cell senescence, controlling the cell cycle and also in cell growth.

Types of cellular respiration:

Cellular respiration is divided in to two types basing on the availability of Oxygen.

1. Aerobic Respiration
2. Anaerobic Respiration

1. Aerobic Respiration:

Aerobic respiration is the process in which complex organic macromolecules are broken
down into simpler substances in presence of oxygen, and energy is released along with
the production of carbon dioxide and water.

2. Anaerobic Respiration:

Anaerobic respiration is the process in which incomplete oxidation of glucose occurs in

the absence of oxygen. It is commonly known as fermentation.

It is of two types:

a) Ethyl alcohol fermentation:

In bacteria and fungi such as yeast, anaerobic respiration has taken place which results
in the formation of ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide, and two molecules of ATP.

b) Lactic acid fermentation:

In muscle cells of humans, the anaerobic respiration results in the formation of lactic acid
and two molecules of ATP.

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Muscle cram:

When the cells in the muscle respire anaerobically, the glucose in the muscles is converted into lactic acid,
and the lactic acid accumulation causes cramps.

Or

At the time of vigorous exercises the muscle cells going for anaerobic respiration and breaks the glucose into
lactic acid and this lactic acid accumulate in muscle cells and leads to muscle cramp.

 During strenuous exercise, our body requires instant energy and it is fulfilled through anaerobic
respiration.
 Since anaerobic respiration is a two-step process, it gives energy faster.
 Thus, muscle cells break down glucose to produce lactic acid and energy.
 A muscle cramp is a painful contraction or tightening of the muscles for a few seconds.

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