FUNCTIONS OF THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE
It performs a series of very important functions in the body, which include:
– Structural support for other tissues and organs and for the body as a whole (by cartilage and bones).
– Adhesion between tissues and between structures of the body.
– Filling spaces between other tissues and between organs.
– The connective tissue proper is the passageway of blood vessels, lymphatic vessels and nerves. Therefore, it plays an important role in the nutrition and functional control of its own cells and of the cells of other tissues and organs. Its extracellular matrix plays an important role in the diffusion of oxygen, CO2 and other gases, nutrients and metabolites, hormones, and many other molecules, providing the communication between cells and blood vessels.
– Reserve of energy in fat deposits of adipose cells.
– Defense of the body by the participation of the lymphoid organs in the immune response and inflammatory processes, trough lymphocytes and cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system, all of them derived from connective tissues.
– Production of blood cells by the hematopoietic marrow.
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