Rizzoni, D.; Agabiti-Rosei, C.; Boari, G.E.M.; Muiesan, M.L.; De Ciuceis, C. Microcirculation in Hypertension: A Therapeutic Target to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease? J. Clin. Med.2023, 12, 4892.
Rizzoni, D.; Agabiti-Rosei, C.; Boari, G.E.M.; Muiesan, M.L.; De Ciuceis, C. Microcirculation in Hypertension: A Therapeutic Target to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease? J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 4892.
Rizzoni, D.; Agabiti-Rosei, C.; Boari, G.E.M.; Muiesan, M.L.; De Ciuceis, C. Microcirculation in Hypertension: A Therapeutic Target to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease? J. Clin. Med.2023, 12, 4892.
Rizzoni, D.; Agabiti-Rosei, C.; Boari, G.E.M.; Muiesan, M.L.; De Ciuceis, C. Microcirculation in Hypertension: A Therapeutic Target to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease? J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 4892.
Abstract
Arterial hypertension is a common condition worldwide and an important risk factor for cardio- and cerebrovascular events, renal diseases as well as microvascular eye diseases. Established hypertension leads to chronic vasoconstriction of small arteries as well as to decreased lumen diameter and thickening of the arterial media or wall with a consequent increased media-to-lumen ratio (MLR) or wall-to-lumen ratio (WLR). This process, defined as vascular remodeling, was first demonstrated in small resistance arteries isolated from subcutaneous biopsies and measured by micromyography, and this is still considered the gold-standard method for the assessment of structural alteration in small resistance arteries; however microvascular remodeling seems to represent a generalized phenomenon. An increased MLR may impair organ flow reserve, being relevant in the maintenance and, probably, also in the progressive worsening of hypertensive disease, as well as in the development of hypertension-mediated organ damage/cardiovascular events, possessing, therefore, a prognostic relevance. New, non-invasive techniques, such as Scanning Laser Doppler Flowmetry or Adaptive Optics, are presently under development, focusing mainly on the evaluation of WLR in retinal arterioles; recently, also retinal microvascular WLR was demonstrated to have a prognostic impact in term of cardio- and cerebrovascular events. A rarefaction of capillary network has also been reported in hypertension which may contribute to flow reduction and impairment in oxygen delivery to different tissues. These microvascular alterations seem to represent an early step in hypertension-mediated organ damage since they might concur to microvascular angina, stroke, and renal dysfunction. In addition, they could be a marker useful in monitoring the beneficial effect of antihypertensive treatment. Also conductance arteries may be affected by a remodeling process in hypertension, and a cross-talk may exist between structural changes in the small and large arteries. The review will address the possible relations between structural microvascular alterations and hypertension-mediated organ damage and their potential improvement with antihypertensive treatment.
Keywords
microcirculation; peripheral circulation; remodelling; small resistance arteries; vascular biology
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Life Sciences
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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