Human Anatomy - M.M. Kurepina, A.P. Ozhigova, A.A. Nikitina 2010
Integumentary System
Blood Supply to the Skin
The Skin receives its Blood supply from both cutaneous and muscular Arteries. These arteries extensively anastomose with one another, forming a flat cutaneous arterial network (rete arteriosum cutaneum) at the border between the dermis and subcutaneous tissue (Atlas, Fig. 225). From this network, arteries branch out into the superficial and deep layers of the skin, supplying adipose tissue, Hair follicles, and sweat and Sebaceous Glands. A second flat arterial network, known as the subpapillary network, is formed between the reticular and papillary layers of the dermis. It consists of smaller vessels that extend toward the excretory ducts of the glands and the dermal papillae. Beneath the epithelium, the arteries break up into arterioles and capillaries, which form loops within the Connective Tissue papillae beneath the epithelium. Capillary networks are also formed around hair follicles, Sweat Glands, and sebaceous glands.
Blood from the capillaries collects into venules, which in turn form flat subpapillary plexuses. Veins drain the blood from the skin, generally running parallel to the arteries.
Heat loss occurs across the walls of venules and capillaries. When ambient Temperature is lower than body temperature, the contraction of smooth Muscle in the walls of arteries and arterioles narrows their lumen and reduces blood flow to the superficial capillaries, leading to decreased heat dissipation. Blood is shunted directly into the venous bed via arteriovenous anastomoses, bypassing the capillary network. When ambient temperature rises, Blood supply to the skin is restored and sweating increases. Sweat evaporates from the skin surface, cooling it down. At the same time, the blood contained within the subepithelial capillary network loses heat.
1. Describe The Structure of thick and thin skin.
2. What are the STRUCTURE AND Functions of skin epithelial Cells (keratinocytes and melanocytes)?
3. Characterize the sweat and sebaceous glands.
4. Structure and development of skin derivatives (hair, Nails).
Last update: 08/08/2026
Editorial and Educational Adaptation: This material has been compiled based on the primary/original source text. The project team performed an editorial review, corrected technical inaccuracies, structured sections, and adapted the content for an educational format.
What was processed:
- elimination of formatting defects (OCR errors, structural breaks, corrupted characters);
- editorial organization of content;
- standardization of terminology in accordance with academic sources;
- verification of factual statements against the original source text.
All mentions of the author, publication year, and origin of the primary text have been preserved in accordance with the source.