Title: General Biology (BIOL.

102)
(Animal Physiology)
Prepared by Prof. M. F. F. Bayomy
Aims of the Course:
- To introduce the basic principles of Physiology.
- To explain importance of nutrition and nutrients.
- To provide sufficient knowledge and fundamental
concepts of the vertebrate body structure and
functions.
- To introduce knowledge to understand how living
organisms perform functions necessary to maintain life.
- To give students a chance to dissect small animals to
expose different organ systems and to understand the
relationships between the anatomical structures and
their functions.
Therefore, the present course is regarded as an
introductory one for students of Dentistry,
Medicine, Pharmacy, and Biological Sciences.
It has been designed to meet the needs of the
undergraduate students.
The illustrations and tables were frequently offered
to enhance the ease of understanding and
reviewing different topics.
Physiological mechanisms, presented here, are
explained in an easy and a straightforward style in
order to promote understanding, rather than
simple memorization of the contents.
 INTRODUCTION
The dictionary tells us that the term "Biology"
comes from 2 Greek words, bios, which means
"life" and logos, which means "the science or
study of". Thus, the 2 parts make a perfect
definition of biology; "the science of life, or living
things", which covers the study of plants
(BOTANY) and the study of animal life
(ZOOLOGY). Zoology is so board in scope that it
includes many special branches.
 Some of the branches included under
ZOOLOGY
Some of these branches are: MORPHOLOGY, ANATOMT,
HISTOLOGY, CYTOLOGY, EMBRYOLOGY, ECOLOGY,
GENETICS, ETHOLOGY, PARASITOLOGY, INVERTEBRATE
ZOOLOGY, ZOOGEOGRAPHY, VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY,
and PHYSIOLOGY, which is the science of functions of the
living organisms or their organs.
 PHYSIOLOGY
Physiology is the science of functions of the
living organisms or their organs. These lectures
will cover a part of its vast field, particularly
about different body systems and their specific
functions. Therefore, this course will
principally focus on the studying of different
processes of Physiology such as Nutrition,
Digestion and Metabolism, Blood circulation,
Respiration, Excretion, Nervous and Hormonal
regulation, i. e., it will deal with nearly all the
manifestations of life.
The course will also tell you about the chemical
pathways which living systems use to synthesize the
vast variety of chemical substances that are made of
from a relatively small number of simple raw
materials during different vital functional processes.
Physiology is not only a description of functions of
living organisms; it, also, asks why and how. To
understand how animal functions, it is necessary to
be familiar with its structure and with some
elementary Physics and Chemistry, e.g. we cannot
understand respiration unless we know about
oxygen, i.e. until chemists had discovered oxygen.
In brief, this course includes some chapters
dealing with the different physiological
phenomena and systems like nutrition (chapter
I), digestive system (chapter II), digestion and
absorption (chapter III), metabolism (chapter
IV), the circulatory system (chapter V), the blood
(chapter VI), the respiratory system (chapter
VII), the excretory system (chapter VIII), and the
endocrine system (chapter IX).
 I. Nutrition

The aim of the nutritional studies is to find

how food can best supply the chemicals
needed for the optimum physiological
functioning of every individual.
 Dietary Requirements
Essentials of a Diet:
An adequate diet must have a calorie value sufficient to provide for
the following functions: 1. The requirements of the basal metabolism
(e.g., respiration, heart beats & maintenance of body temperature).
2. The stimulating action of the foodstuffs or specific dynamic action
(SDA).
3. Getting rid of the urine and feces of unutilized derivatives of the
foodstuffs.
4. The needs of varying degrees for muscular work for everyday
activities, such as sitting, standing, walking, dressing, eating….etc.
5. Regulation of different physiological processes.
Therefore, diet must have adequate amounts of proteins (for
supplying body with essential amino acids), fats (for supplying
essential fatty acids), carbohydrates, water, vitamins and mineral
salts.
Factors affecting the Requirements:
There are some of the factors, which should be taken into
consideration, with respect to preparing adequate diet such as:
Physical work, Childhood period, Menstruation, Pregnancy, Lactation
and Illnesses.
Available Food Energy:
To determine the number of calories that a known weight of food
gives when burnt in a bomb calorimeter is simple; but to assess the
energy that an individual can derive by cooking and eating that food
presents problems, which have not yet been satisfactorily solved. A
variable loss occurs during preparation and cooking; a small
proportion escapes digestion and absorption and is eliminated in the
feces. As a rough guide, the calorie yields of the nutrients that matter
as energy providers can be taken as follows:
Carbohydrates (sugar, starch) → 4.1 k calories/gram (g)
Proteins (mixed) ---------------→ 4 k calories/g
Fats ------------------------------→ 9.3 k calories/g
Where, a calorie is defined as that amount of thermal energy that
is capable of rising one gram of water one degree centigrade (1 ̊C).
 Nutrients

Nutrients are composed of different types of 6

main groups which are: Carbohydrates, Lipids,
Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals and Water.
 The first 2 are energy prducing nutrients,
because they mainly supply body with energy.
 Proteins, vitamins, minerals & water are
necessary for building up & maintenance of the
body as well as controlling vital activities.
 Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are substances containing carbon (C),
hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) where the ratio between
hydrogen and oxygen is 2:1. They are either hydroxy-
aldehydes or hydroxy-ketones, for example:
CH2-OH
‫׀‬
CHO C=O
‫׀‬ ‫׀‬
CH2-OH CH2-OH Dihydroxyacetone
Hydroxy - acetaldehyde
CHO
‫׀‬
CHOH
‫׀‬
CH2OH glycerose (Glyceraldehyde)
Therefore, aldoses are sugars containing aldehyde groups
whereas ketoses are sugars containing ketone groups.
Glycerose and dihydroxyacetone both containing 3 C
atoms and hence are termed trioses. Tetroses contain 4 C
atoms where pentoses contain 5 C atoms and hexoses
contain 6 C atoms. Such simple sugars are known as
monosaccharides. Two monosaccharide units condense
together with the elimination of 1 mole H2O and a
disaccharide is formed. Three units condense together
with the elimination of 2 H2O to yield a trisaccharide. The
products formed by condensation of large number of
monosaccharide units are termed polysaccharides.
Monosaccharide:
These are the simplest types of
carbohydrates, which each consists of one
sugar unit, and are divided into several
types according to the number of carbon
atoms in the molecular structure of each.
For example, some of them contain four carbon
atoms, so these sugars are known as four-carbon
(tetroses), example of which is erythrose sugar
and its chemical symbol is C4H8O4, and among
them are five-carbon (pentoses), such as ribose
sugar and deoxyribose sugars, the first of which
is a component of RNA, and the second is one of
the components of the nucleic acid "DNA". Based
on this, no living cell, whether plant or animal is
devoid of them.
Hexoses:
Of the most important of the sugars are
hexoses, and a very common example is
glucose (dextrose), its chemical symbol is
C6H12O6. They also include fruit sugar
(fructose) and milk sugar, galactose.
They are all of the same molecular
formula: C6H12O6.
Glucose is one of the most important and
common in the body, as it is found in the blood,
and it is also found in the form of glycogen, which
is stored in the tissues of some parts of the body
such as the liver and muscles.
Fructose is found in the semen to nourish the
male reproductive cells.
Galactose is considered one of the components of
the milk sugar, lactose, that represents the only
carbohydrate in the milk to feed a nursing infant.
Monosaccharides (Chain form of some monosaccharides)
The five carbohydrates named below are considered the most
important members of the class of monosaccharide, but they are by
no means the only ones found in natural products.
Monosaccharides (cyclic forms)
Glucose is the carbohydrate utilized by the cell;
mannose, galactose and fructose must be
converted to glucose in the liver for utilization. It
is stored in the liver as glycogen. The blood
normally contains 65 – 110 mg of glucose per 100
ml, but in diabetics the level may be much higher.
Glucose is one of the chief constituents of many
polysaccharides. Cellulose and starch are
polymers of glucose.
Disaccharides
The molecule of a disaccharide is composed of
two units united of one or two different
monosaccharides, so that the two units are
chemically linked together by losing one molecule
of water. Its general chemical formula is:
C12H22O11, i.e., the disaccharide consists of 2
monosaccharide units condensed together with
the elimination of one molecule of water. The 3
main disaccharides are: maltose, lactose and
sucrose.
Maltose (malt sugar):
It doesn't occur free naturally. It is an intermediate
stage in breakdown of starch to glucose.
Lactose: (milk sugar)
It is found in milk and is synthesized in the mammary
gland. On hydrolysis it yields one molecule of galactose
and one molecule of glucose.
Sucrose: (cane sugar):
It occurs naturally in certain plants and is one of the
important carbohydrates of the diet. On hydrolysis it
yields one molecule of fructose and one molecule of
glucose.
Polysaccharides:
Polysaccharides are formed by condensation of
large numbers of monosaccharide units which are
joined together with the loss of water. Their
general molecular formula is {(C6H10O5)n+H2O}
Polysaccharides have high molecular weights and
are not usually soluble in water, though some
may form colloidal solutions. Examples of
polysaccharides are: starch, glycogen, chitin and
cellulose.
Glycogen:
It is the form in which carbohydrate is stored in the
animal body, thus it is called animal starch. The molecular
weight is of the order of several millions.
Cellulose:
It is very stable polysaccharide forming the supporting
tissues of the plant. It is insoluble in water and gives no
color with iodine.
Inulin:
It is composed of fructose units. It is found in
artichokes and in dahlia tubers and is used for a renal
function test for determination of glomerular filtration
rate (GFR).
 Importance of carbohydrates
- Form the bulk of the human diet.
- Oxidation of one g yields 4.1 K-cal.
- They maintain the blood glucose level.
- Circulate in the blood in the form of glucose.
- Stored in the liver & in muscles as glycogen.
- The stored glycogen could be changed back to glucose
when the body needs it (from liver).
- Fructose in the seminal fluid is used for nourishment of
spermatozoa.
- May be converted to fat and deposited in adipose
tissues.
- Some polysaccharides are associated with the structures
of animal tissues, examples are the following:
• Chitin in the exoskeleton of Arthropods.
• Chondroitin sulphates among constituents of
cartilage, bones, heart valves and cornea.
• Heparin: anticoagulant (antithrombic agent).
• Hyaluronic acid in vitreous humor, synovial
fluid, skin and umbilical cord.
• Sialic acids in mucins (mucoproteins).
• Blood group substances in the surface of RBCs
are carbohydrate moieties.