In biology, the interstitial space, also called the tissue space, is the space that surrounds the cells of a given tissue. It is filled with interstitial fluid. Interstitial refers to a "small opening or space between objects". Together with the vascular space, the interstitial space comprises the extracellular space.[1] When excessive fluid accumulates in the interstitial space, edema develops.[2]
In the lungs there is an interstitial space between capillaries (tiny blood vessels) and the alveoli (the microscopic air-filled sacs in the lungs responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere). For gas exchange to occur, carbon dioxide must diffuse across the epithelium of the capillaries across the interstitial space, and across the alveolar epithelium; oxygen must diffuse the other direction.
References
- ^ Fleischhauer J, Lehmann L, Kléber AG (August 1995). "Electrical resistances of interstitial and microvascular space as determinants of the extracellular electrical field and velocity of propagation in ventricular myocardium". Circulation 92 (3): 587–94. PMID 7634473. http://www.circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/92/3/587.
- ^ Wiese D (2005). "Edema". in Tierney LM, Henderson MA. The Patient History: Evidence Based Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 249. ISBN 0-07-140260-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=QrkPmMyJsagC&pg=PA249&dq=%22interstitial+space%22&lr=&client=firefox-a&sig=ACfU3U3m5F-az_Z13xfkdK4LRXBEBmfGjQ. Retrieved on 2008-07-01.
External links
- Levitt DG. The pharmacokinetics of the interstitial space in humans BMC Clinical Pharmacology 2003, 3:3doi:10.1186/1472-6904-3-3
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