Arterioles Facts & Worksheets

Arterioles are small vessels that carry blood away from your heart and connect your arteries and capillaries. They regulate your blood pressure and blood flow throughout your body by changing the diameter of their muscles. They also communicate with veins to exchange oxygen, nutrients, and waste.

See the fact file below for more information on Arterioles, or you can download our 29-page Arterioles worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

• The Vascular Tree – Made up of arteries, veins, and capillary beds, that pump blood throughout the body. A route transports blood from the heart and distributes it throughout the body via smaller branches.
• The minor branch of the artery is eventually called an arteriole, which divides further into smaller vessels to produce the capillary bed. The capillary bed is where nutrients and wastes exchange between the blood and bodily tissues.
• The most significant change in blood pressure and flow velocity occurs at the intersection of arterioles and capillaries. Arterioles connect arteries and capillaries by acting as a “middleman” when larger arteries and tiny capillaries want to exchange oxygen, nutrients, and waste. 
• Venules (small veins) returning blood to the heart also join capillaries to participate in these exchanges. Venules are exit tubes that connect several organs’ capillary beds to create veins, which return blood to the heart.
• The arteries have three types: elastic, muscular, and arterioles, as the minor branch. They all comprised three layers: the tunica intima, the tunica media, and the adventitia. 
• Adventitia: The adventitial layer comprises fibroblasts, extracellular matrix, and thick bundles of collagen fibers arranged along the longitudinal axis of the blood artery. The adventitial layers’ significance is traditionally limited to structural support and scaffolding for anchor nerve endings.
• Media: Most of the medial layer of arterioles comprises smooth muscle cells and an internal elastic lamina.
• Intima: Intima has traditionally been a physical barrier between blood components and extravascular tissues. The intima of resistance arteries or arterioles comprises endothelial cells (EC) and their basement membrane.
• Arterioles, as the primary site of total peripheral resistance, help to maintain mean arterial pressure and tissue perfusion. They also serve an essential function in controlling blood flow in organ or tissue-specific ways by increasing or reducing diameter. 
• They provide 80% of the resistance to blood flow in your blood vessels. It means they manage and control the force of your blood flowing through your body and how much of it goes to tissues at any time. They help keep the blood pressure stable with muscles accomplishing this in the walls of your arterioles. 
• They are more muscular than veins because they must withstand higher blood pressure when your heart pumps blood out to your body and must contract and dilate more forcefully to adjust blood flow.
• In an arteriole, each smooth muscle cell has its neuron, which receives impulses that cause the arteriole to expand or contract. That means that when your nervous system requests to change the diameter of arterioles to adjust blood pressure or flow, each muscle cell has a direct line of communication.

ARTERIOLES AND OTHER ORGANS

• Arterioles are throughout your body. Thus they can assist the following organs.
• Skin – Some arterioles in your skin aid in keeping you warm by constricting and drawing blood closer to your core. When arterioles in your skin dilate, they increase blood flow to your skin and extremities, which helps you cool down.
• Lungs – When you don’t get enough oxygen, your lungs’ arterioles constrict or tighten. It moves blood away from areas of your lungs that don’t have enough oxygen and toward areas of your lungs that do.
• Kidney – Afferent arterioles carry blood into the glomerulus of your kidney (blood vessels that filter your blood). Afferent arterioles can dilate, or expand, to allow for more filtration. Efferent arterioles drain blood from your glomerulus.
• Brain – To increase blood flow, arterioles in your brain can dilate or become more open.

CONDITION AND DISORDERS

• Arteriole diameters shrink with age and exposure to pollution. These reduce the resistance to flow into peripheral vascular beds, reducing overall systemic pressure.
• Inflammation, atherosclerosis, and hypertensive vascular disease can all impact the arterioles’ function and structure. They determine clinical symptoms by the organs involved, which are primarily affected by ischemia caused by arterial insufficiency. Ischemia is a condition in which blood flow (and hence oxygen supply) is restricted or diminished in a specific body area.
• Because arterioles are blood vessels, conditions that affect the cardiovascular system also affect arterioles. The following situations can have an impact on your arterioles:

Inflammatory bowel disease

• Pain in the abdomen.
• Bleeding.
• Diarrhea.
• Vomiting and nausea

Thrombosis (blood clots)

• Breathing difficulty (if the lump is in your lung or heart).
• Chest ache (for a blood clot in your heart).
• Speaking problem (for a blood clot in your brain).
• Swelling of the legs (most blood clots originate in your leg veins).

Arteriolosclerosis refers to protein deposits in blood vessel walls, most commonly in the kidneys. Arteriolosclerosis has two types: hyaline arteriolosclerosis and hyperplastic arteriolosclerosis. 

• Hyaline – Increased protein deposition inside the arterial wall occludes the arteriole lumen in hyaline arteriolosclerosis. 
• Hyperplastic – Hyperplastic arteriolosclerosis characterizes basement membrane duplication and smooth muscle cell hyperplasia in response to a rapid rise in blood pressure. 

Vasculitis is an inflammation of the vascular wall that can affect large (elastic arteries), medium-sized (muscular arteries), minor (arterioles, venules, capillaries), or combinations of these vessel types.

• Loss of weight.
• Fever.
• Tiredness.
• Bruises and rashes

Other conditions and disorders include

• Arthritis
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Small strokes (arteriole blockages) or aneurysms (ruptured arteriole)
• Diabetes-related microangiopathy (arterioles do not receive enough oxygen, causing damage)
• High Cholesterol

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

• Breathing difficulty.
• Wheezing.
• Coughing a lot.

Cystic fibrosis

• Coughing is persistent and sometimes accompanied by phlegm.
• Infections of the lungs, such as pneumonia or bronchitis, are common.
• Shortness of breath or wheezing

Atherosclerosis

• Angina or chest discomfort
• Pain in your leg, arm, or anywhere else an artery obstructs.
• Tightness in the buttocks while walking
• Damage to arteriole walls reduces their ability to dilate or constrict. It affects both blood pressure and blood flow.

TESTS AND TREATMENTS

• Tests to take with your healthcare professional to check your arterioles 
  • Angiogram using CT (computed tomography).
  • Angiogram using magnetic resonance (MR).
  • Ultrasound with Doppler.

• The doctor may prescribe medications to improve your cardiovascular system’s function, including your arterioles, with the following
  • Antihypertensive medications treat high blood pressure.
  • Medicines that lower cholesterol.
  • Anti-inflammatory drugs treat conditions such as vasculitis.
  • Smoking cessation.

HOW TO MAKE ARTERIOLES HEALTHY

These habits can help keep your arterioles healthy:

• Consume less salt.
• Consume less saturated fat.
• Regular exercise is essential.
• Use no tobacco products.
• Maintain a healthy weight for yourself.

Arterioles Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Arterioles across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Arterioles, the small vessels that carry blood away from your heart and connect your arteries and capillaries.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

1. Arterioles Facts
2. FIND ME!
3. Blood Composition
4. The Vascular Tree
5. What is that Artery?
6. Nephron Anatomy
7. Blood Flow
8. Lab Observation
9. Jingle Making
10. Arterial Check-up
11. Infographics

Frequently Asked Questions

What is unique about arterioles?

Arterioles are the key blood vessels that supply blood flow to capillary beds. They offer roughly 80% of the total resistance against blood flowing through the human body.

What connects to arterioles?

The arterioles connect to smaller blood vessels, called capillaries. These capillaries have thin walls that allow oxygen and nutrients to pass from the bloodstream into tissues. Waste products also pass from tissues back into the bloodstream through these same walls. From the capillaries, blood passes next into venules, and then finally veins before it returns to the heart.

Why is an arteriole described as an organ?

An organ is defined as a group of tissues bundled together to perform the same function. An arteriole is a tiny-diameter blood vessel in the microcirculation that branches off from an artery and goes to the capillaries. That is why it is described as a part of an organ.

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