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In a healthy vascular system, the endothelium lines all blood-contacting surfaces, including arteries, arterioles, veins, venules, capillaries, and heart chambers. This healthy condition is promoted by the ample production of nitric oxide by the endothelium, which requires a biochemical reaction regulated by a complex balance of polyphenols, various nitric oxide synthase enzymes and L-arginine.
A capillary is a small blood vessel, from 5 to 10 micrometres in diameter, and is part of the microcirculation system. Capillaries are microvessels and the smallest blood vessels in the body. They are composed of only the tunica intima (the innermost layer of an artery or vein), consisting of a thin wall of simple squamous endothelial cells. [2]
In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. [1] [2] It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart and blood vessels (from Greek kardia meaning heart, and Latin vascula meaning vessels).
The microcirculation has three major components: pre-capillary, capillary, and post-capillary. In the pre-capillary sector, arterioles, and precapillary sphincters participate. Their function is to regulate blood flow before it enters the capillaries and venules by the contraction and relaxation of the smooth muscle found on their walls.
The Starling principle holds that fluid movement across a semi-permeable blood vessel such as a capillary or small venule is determined by the hydrostatic pressures and colloid osmotic pressures (oncotic pressure) on either side of a semipermeable barrier that sieves the filtrate, retarding larger molecules such as proteins from leaving the blood stream.
The peripheral vascular system is the part of the circulatory system that consists of the veins and arteries not in the chest or abdomen (i.e. in the arms, hands, legs and feet). [1] [2] The peripheral arteries supply oxygenated blood to the body, and the peripheral veins lead deoxygenated blood from the capillaries in the extremities back to ...
Vascular endothelial cells line the entire circulatory system, from the heart to the smallest capillaries. These cells have unique functions that include fluid filtration, such as in the glomerulus of the kidney, blood vessel tone, hemostasis, neutrophil recruitment, and hormone trafficking.
Renal corpuscle showing glomerulus and glomerular capillaries Figure 2: (a) Diagram of the juxtaglomerular apparatus: it has specialized cells working as a unit which monitor the sodiujuxtaglomerular apparatus: it has three types of specm content of the fluid in the distal convoluted tubule (not labelled - it is the tubule on the left) and adjust the glomerular filtration rate and the rate of ...