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Alveolar type II epithelial cells play the critical roles of producing surfactant, moving water out of the airspaces, and regenerating alveolar epithelium. [5] The alveolar type II epithelial cells are more resistant to damage, so after an insult to the alveoli, most of the damage will occur to the alveolar type I epithelial cells. [5]
Mucociliary clearance (MCC), mucociliary transport, or the mucociliary escalator describes the self-clearing mechanism of the airways in the respiratory system. [1] It is one of the two protective processes for the lungs in removing inhaled particles including pathogens before they can reach the delicate tissue of the lungs.
The blood–air barrier or air–blood barrier, (alveolar–capillary barrier or membrane) exists in the gas exchanging region of the lungs. It exists to prevent air bubbles from forming in the blood , and from blood entering the alveoli .
The red blood cells also carry carbon dioxide (CO 2) away from the cells in the form of carbaminohemoglobin and release it into the alveoli through the alveolar capillaries. When the diaphragm relaxes, a positive pressure is generated in the thorax and air rushes out of the alveoli expelling the carbon dioxide.
The process of breathing does not fill the alveoli with atmospheric air during each inhalation (about 350 ml per breath), but the inhaled air is carefully diluted and thoroughly mixed with a large volume of gas (about 2.5 liters in adult humans) known as the functional residual capacity which remains in the lungs after each exhalation, and ...
When pulmonary aspiration occurs during eating and drinking, the aspirated material is often colloquially referred to as "going down the wrong pipe". Consequences of pulmonary aspiration include no injury at all, chemical pneumonitis, pneumonia, or even death from asphyxiation. These consequences depend on the volume, chemical composition ...
Type 2 pneumocytes are more resistant to damage, which is important as these cells produce surfactant, transport ions and proliferate and differentiate into Type 1 cells. The damage to the endothelium and the alveolar epithelium results in the creation of an open interface between the lung and the blood, facilitating the spread of micro ...
Air in the alveoli of the lungs is diluted by saturated water vapour (H 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2), a metabolic product given off by the blood, and contains less oxygen (O 2) than atmospheric air as some of it is taken up by the blood for metabolic use. The resulting partial pressure of nitrogen is about 0.758 bar.