Which of the following tissues is avascular (lacks blood vessels)?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Epithelial tissue is avascular because it contains no blood vessels and obtains nutrients and oxygen by diffusion from the underlying connective tissue through the basement membrane.

1. Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- Avascular means lacking blood vessels.  
- Major tissue types: epithelial, connective, muscle, nervous.  
- Epithelia form continuous sheets (e.g., skin surface, lining of gut and glands) and rest on a basement membrane underlain by connective tissue. Nutrient and gas exchange for epithelia occurs by diffusion from capillaries in the underlying connective tissue. Most connective tissues and muscle tissue contain abundant blood vessels to meet metabolic needs. Some exceptions exist (e.g., cartilage is an avascular connective tissue).

2. Step-by-step reasoning
- Examine each option for presence of blood vessels.  
- Epithelial: layers of cells tightly packed; no intrinsic blood vessels; relies on diffusion across basement membrane. Therefore avascular.  
- Muscle: composed of muscle fibers with high metabolic activity; contains capillaries and arterioles to supply oxygen and remove waste; therefore vascular.  
- Connective: broad category including bone, adipose, blood, dense and loose connective tissues; most have intrinsic vascular supply (e.g., bone highly vascular; adipose richly vascularized). Cartilage is an exception but the category as a whole is vascular.

3. Intermediate steps / supporting facts
- Epithelial thickness is limited by diffusion distance; avascularity explains need for thin layers and close proximity to capillary-rich connective tissue.  
- Histology shows capillaries in lamina propria (connective tissue) beneath epithelium, not inside epithelial layer.

4. Why the correct answer is correct
- Epithelial tissue lacks blood vessels by definition of its structure and typical function; it receives nutrients by diffusion from underlying vascular connective tissue.

5. Why other options are incorrect
- Muscle tissue is vascular to supply energy for contraction.  
- Connective tissue, in general, contains blood vessels (exceptions like cartilage do not negate the general vascular nature of the category).

6. Conclusion
- The correct choice is Epithelial, which matches the provided answer.

Which of the following tissues is avascular (lacks blood vessels)?Single choice

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