Function and Characteristics of Smooth Muscle Tissue in the Human Body.

smooth muscle tissue

forms the walls of hollow organs, has short, spindle shaped cells, and involuntary in contractions

Smooth muscle tissue is one of the three types of muscle tissue found in the human body. It is called “smooth” because under the microscope, it appears much smoother than the other two types of muscle tissue – skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle. Unlike skeletal and cardiac muscle, smooth muscle is not under conscious control, and its contraction is regulated by the autonomic nervous system.

Smooth muscle is found in a variety of organs throughout the body, including the walls of blood vessels, the digestive tract, the respiratory tract, the urinary tract, and the reproductive system. Its function is typically to help move substances through these organs, such as food through the digestive tract or urine through the urinary tract.

Smooth muscle cells are spindle-shaped, with a single nucleus and no striations (stripes). They are arranged in sheets and connected by gap junctions, which allow for coordinated contraction. The contraction of smooth muscle is slower and more sustained than the contraction of skeletal muscle, allowing for greater efficiency in moving substances through the body.

Smooth muscle can also undergo hypertrophy (growth in size) and hyperplasia (growth in number of cells) in response to certain stimuli, such as hormones or increased workload. This characteristic is seen in conditions such as asthma or hypertension, where the smooth muscle of the respiratory tract or blood vessels, respectively, becomes hypertrophied and contributes to the disease process.

Overall, smooth muscle plays a crucial role in many bodily functions and is just as important as the other two types of muscle tissue in maintaining overall health.

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