TY - JOUR

T1 - A life under pressure

T2 - circumferential stress in the microvascular wall

AU - Jacobsen, Jens Christian Brings

AU - von Holstein-Rathlou, Niels-Henrik

N1 - © 2011 The Authors. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology © 2011 Nordic Pharmacological Society.

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - Microvessels live 'a life under pressure' in several ways. In a literal sense, vessels of the microcirculation are exposed to high levels of stress caused primarily by the intravascular pressure head. In a figurative sense, the individual vessel and the microvascular network as a whole must continuously strive to meet the changing demands of the surrounding tissue. The 'principle of optimal operation' as formulated by Y. C. Fung states that living tissues adapts structurally through remodelling and growth until a level of tensile and compressive stresses is reached at which tissue performance is optimal. This behaviour is characteristic for the microvascular wall. It is highly plastic by nature and meets sustained changes by structural adaptation so as to maintain functional optimality. Owing to the orientation of the vascular smooth muscle cell in the media, in particular, the circumferential stress component has a huge impact on the state of the vascular wall. It is involved as a unifying factor on vastly different timescales in processes as diverse as acute regulation of vessel diameter, structural vessel remodelling and growth or atrophy of the vascular wall. The aim of this MiniReview was to outline in brief this integrative role of circumferential wall stress in the microcirculation.

AB - Microvessels live 'a life under pressure' in several ways. In a literal sense, vessels of the microcirculation are exposed to high levels of stress caused primarily by the intravascular pressure head. In a figurative sense, the individual vessel and the microvascular network as a whole must continuously strive to meet the changing demands of the surrounding tissue. The 'principle of optimal operation' as formulated by Y. C. Fung states that living tissues adapts structurally through remodelling and growth until a level of tensile and compressive stresses is reached at which tissue performance is optimal. This behaviour is characteristic for the microvascular wall. It is highly plastic by nature and meets sustained changes by structural adaptation so as to maintain functional optimality. Owing to the orientation of the vascular smooth muscle cell in the media, in particular, the circumferential stress component has a huge impact on the state of the vascular wall. It is involved as a unifying factor on vastly different timescales in processes as diverse as acute regulation of vessel diameter, structural vessel remodelling and growth or atrophy of the vascular wall. The aim of this MiniReview was to outline in brief this integrative role of circumferential wall stress in the microcirculation.

KW - Animals

KW - Arterioles

KW - Blood Pressure

KW - Humans

KW - Microcirculation

KW - Muscle, Smooth, Vascular

KW - Vascular Resistance

U2 - 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2011.00796.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2011.00796.x

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21917118

VL - 110

SP - 26

EP - 34

JO - Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology

JF - Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology

SN - 1742-7835

IS - 1

ER -