Human Body Tissues: Connective Tissue

Connective Tissue Overview

• Connective tissue is one of the four types of tissue in the human body, alongside muscle, nervous, and epithelial tissue.
• It serves a variety of purposes and has a diverse range of functions, unlike other types of tissue.

Categories of Connective Tissue

• Connective tissue can be split into three categories: loose proper, dense proper, and specialized.
• Each type of connective tissue has a unique combination of three components: ground substance, structural fibers, and living cells.

Components of Connective Tissue

• Ground substance: a liquidy, intermediary substance that allows dissolved particles to move through it.
• Structural fibers: provide structure and mechanical properties to connective tissue, with different types of fibers serving specific purposes.
• Living cells: fibroblasts are the most common, supplying the tissue with structural fibers, and wandering immune cells like macrophages.

Types of Connective Tissue Fibers

• Collagen fibers: 28 types, with different purposes, such as type 1 for ligaments and type 2 for joints.
• Reticular fibers: thin, laid down in a meshwork style, creating spaces between fibers.
• Elastin fibers: stretchy and pliable.

Loose Connective Tissue

• Characterized by a higher amount of ground substance and fewer fibers.
• Has a specific purpose, despite being less dense than dense connective tissue.

Dense Connective Tissue

• Characterized by a higher density of fibers and less ground substance.
• Provides strength and resistance to tensile force, making it suitable for anatomy that requires it.

Examples of Dense Connective Tissue

• Ligaments: attach bone to bone, preventing excessive motion in one direction.
• Irregular dense connective tissue: resists multi-directional force, making it suitable for the capsule around the shoulder joint.