Small artery structure and function in hypertension

•  Introduction •  Structural changes in the circulation •  Remodelling and hypertrophy in the circulation •  Molecular mechanisms responsible for eutrophic remodelling •  Small artery function •  Conclusions It has been known for some considerable time that sustained hypertension changes the circul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cellular and molecular medicine 2010-05, Vol.14 (5), p.1037-1043
Main Authors: Heagerty, Anthony M., Heerkens, Egidius H., Izzard, Ashley S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arteries
Arteries - pathology
Arteries - physiopathology
Blood Circulation - physiology
Blood levels
Blood pressure
Blood vessels
Cardiovascular system
Conformation
eutrophic remodelling
Heart rate
Hemodynamics
Humans
Hypertension
Hypertension - physiopathology
Hypertrophy
Hypotheses
Molecular modelling
myogenic tone
Physiology
resistant artery
Reviews
Risk factors
Structure-function relationships
Veins & arteries
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Summary:•  Introduction •  Structural changes in the circulation •  Remodelling and hypertrophy in the circulation •  Molecular mechanisms responsible for eutrophic remodelling •  Small artery function •  Conclusions It has been known for some considerable time that sustained hypertension changes the circulatory architecture both in the heart and blood vessels. The histopathological alterations are of considerable interest because once they have developed they appear to carry an adverse prognostic risk. In the heart it is apparent that there is hypertrophy. This extends also to the large‐ and medium‐sized blood vessels but at the level of the smaller arteries that contribute to vascular resistance, this is not the case: it is clear that the physiological response to higher pressures is a change in the positional conformation of the pre‐existing tissue constituents and as a result of this the lumen is narrowed. This brief review looks at our knowledge in this area and attempts to clarify our understanding of how hypertension brings these about and what happens when these homeostatic mechanisms break down. From a therapeutic perspective it appears imperative to control blood pressure in an attempt to reverse or prevent such alterations to cardiovascular structure. Our knowledge is fast expanding in this field and it is only to be anticipated that as detection methodology improves everyday practice will alter as we profile our patients in terms of structural alterations in the ventricle and blood vessels.
ISSN:1582-1838
1582-4934
DOI:10.1111/j.1582-4934.2010.01080.x