Human Anatomy - M.M. Kurepina, A.P. Ozhigova, A.A. Nikitina 2010

Cardiovascular system
Lymphatic system
Lymph formation

The Lymphatic system serves as an auxiliary drainage system through which interstitial fluid drains back into the venous System of the bloodstream.

Due to the pressure gradient between the arterial and venous ends of the capillaries, Blood Plasma—along with dissolved Proteins, ions, and Other Compounds—filters into the interstitial space. This is how interstitial fluid is formed. Typically, more interstitial fluid is formed at the arterial ends of the capillaries than is reabsorbed at the venous ends. Under normal conditions, however, no excess fluid accumulates in the Tissues because the surplus is drained by the lymphatic capillaries (Fig. 2.18). Capillaries in different Organs and tissues exhibit selective permeability, resulting in variations in Lymph composition.

Class="center">

Fig. 2.17.

Fig. 2.18. Diagram of lymph and interstitial fluid formation (after Ham and Cormack, 1981):

1 — interstitial fluid filters from capillaries; 2 — Extracellular matrix of Connective Tissue; 3 — removal of excess interstitial fluid; 4 — Blood Cells; 5 — venous end of a blood capillary; 6 — lymphatic capillary (removal of interstitial fluid); 7 — arterial end of a blood capillary

Lymph can be formed not only from interstitial fluid but also from the fluid of serous (pleural, pericardial, and peritoneal) and synovial cavities. It is a yellowish fluid containing high-molecular-weight compounds and cells, predominantly lymphocytes. Lymph flows through a system consisting of drainage pathways and lymphoid organs (Atlas Fig. 82).