Homeostasis

Physiology is ‘the science of normal functions and
phenomena of living things’

It involves the functioning at various levels-from
cellular through the functioning of different
organs and organ systems to functioning of the
whole animal
Homeostasis in physiology can be defined as
‘Tendency to maintain stability or equilibrium
within an organism’
or
Maintenance of static or constant conditions in
the internal environment
or milieu interieur
Claude Bernard in 1857 was first to observe
importance of homeostasis in animal function
Walter Cannon first used the term ’Homeostasis’

in 1926. He used this term to describe the relative
constancy of physiological processes achieved
through a complex dynamic equilibrium
The external environment surrounds the body
and provides oxygen and nutrients required by all
the cells of the body. Waste products of cellular
activity are eventually excreted into the external
environment.
The skin provides a barrier between the dry
external environment and the watery
environment of most body cells
The internal environment which constitute the
body fluid is the water based medium in which
body cells exist.
Cells are bathed in fluid called interstitial

or tissue fluid ,vital physiological exchanges takes
place in the presence of the aqueous internal
environment which is outside the cells but inside
the body
The internal environment consists of
extra cellular fluid (ECF) made up of plasma
interstitial fluid / inter-cellular fluid/ tissue
fluid
Inter-cellular fluid is formed from blood by a process of
ULTRA FILTERATION
When blood reaches the arterial end of the capillaries it is

under high pressure due to pumping action of the heart and
fine pores of the capillaries
The pressure forces the fluid part of the blood to pass

through the walls of the capillaries into the inter-cellular
spaces
Once formed the inter-cellular fluid circulates amongst the

cells and eventually return to the blood vascular system
Factors that regulate internal environment
through homeostasis include :
* Chemical constituents – glucose, ions etc

* The osmotic pressure ,determined by relative
amounts of water and solutes
* Concentration of oxygen and carbon di oxide
* Temperature
* Concentration of waste products
* pH
* Volume and pressure maintainence
Homeostasis is maintained by control systems
which detect and respond to changes in the
internal environment
A control system has three basic components –
receptor / detector, control centre and effector
The control centre receives an input from the
detector or receptor and intergrates the
incoming information and responds and sends
an output to the effector and a change is
brought about
The integrating centre is usually the brain or
spinal cord
Homeostasis
Homeostasis
The response that occurs during homeostatic
control mechanisms is
continually monitored by the receptor and fed
back to the control centre
If the response reverses the original stimulus the

system is a negative feed back mechanism(loop)
If the response enhances the original stimulus the

system is a positive feed back mechanism (loop)
Negative feedback mechanism tend to maintain
conditions that require frequent monitoring and
adjustment within physiological limits ex. Regulation
of body temperature or blood sugar level
Positive feedback mechanism are important for

conditions that do not occur often ,they tend to
intensify (enhance) a controlled condition therefore
they are of short duration and are shut off by some
mechanism outside the system .They are less common
ex. Clotting of blood, generation of nerve impulse,
secretion of oxytocin
Feed back systems are active at all levels of
body organizations -
* Molecular ( ex. Regulation of enzymes)
* Cellular (ex. Regulation chemical
content or cell volume )
* Organ (ex. Regulation of blood flow
in heart)
* Systemic( ex. Regulation of breathing in
the respiratory system)
* Whole Body (ex. Regulation of body
temperature)
Glucose homeostasis / Homeostatic control of blood sugar
levels / Role of pancreas and liver in homeostatic function-
Beta cells of Pancreas secrete
Rise in Glucos
blood Insulin which causes – e level
sugar
(150mg
1) Sugar Glycogen falls
/cm3 ) 2) Sugar CO2 +H2O

3) Sugar Fat - ve feed back
- ve feed back
Normal amount of Normal amount of

blood glucose blood glucose
(90mg/cm3 ) (90mg/cm3 )
- ve feed back
- ve feed back
Alpha cells of pancreas secrete
Glucos
Decreas Glucagon e level
e in
blood
Accelerates formation of rises
sugar glucose from glycogen.

Pancreas secrete less insulin
Homeostasis of Glucose
When blood sugar increases , Liver receives
information to lower blood sugar in the form of Insulin
which exerts its effect by increasing
the oxidative break down of glucose and
facilitating the conversion of
1) Glucose glycogen and fat
2) Uptake of glucose from blood to skeletal muscle
When blood sugar falls below normal alpha cells of
pancreas produces glucagon which increases blood
sugar levels by :-
* Accelerating conversion of glycogen glucose
(Glycogenolysis)
*Promotes formation of glucose from lactic acid and
certain amino acids (Gluconeogenesis)
The level of blood glucose directly controls the

secretion of glucagon via negative feed back system
Thus liver is under the influence of pancreas to
regulate blood sugar levels and the level of blood
glucose
Regulation of secretion of Glucagon and Insulin
Positive feedback mechanism
Positive feed back mechanism creates rapid

change when conditions demand a rapid change
from set point .The output is continually
enhanced .Instead of countering the initial
change positive feed back reinforces the change in
the same direction
Positive feed back loop
Further excess
+ve
Feed back - ve feed back
Excess Corrective
Mechnasim
Norm(Set Point)
Norm(Set Point)
Deficiency Corrective
Mechnasim
- ve feed back
+ ve
Feed back
Further deficiency
Positive Feedback
Homeostasis
Credits
 Wikipedia
 Principles of Anatomy and Physiology by Gerard J Tortora
and Sandra Reynolds Grabowski 7th edition

Homeostasis

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Homeostasis

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Physiology is ‘the science of normal functions and

phenomena of living things’

Walter Cannon first used the term ’Homeostasis’

Cells are bathed in fluid called interstitial

When blood reaches the arterial end of the capillaries it is

The pressure forces the fluid part of the blood to pass

Once formed the inter-cellular fluid circulates amongst the

* Chemical constituents – glucose, ions etc

If the response reverses the original stimulus the

If the response enhances the original stimulus the

Positive feedback mechanism are important for

/cm3 ) 2) Sugar CO2 +H2O

Normal amount of Normal amount of

sugar glucose from glycogen.

The level of blood glucose directly controls the

Positive feed back mechanism creates rapid

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