Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2018; 111(2): 120-121
Microcirculation and Cardiovascular Diseases
DOI: 10.5935/abc.20180149
Human microcirculation has some aspects that make it unique in its capacity to adjust the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the metabolic demands of all cells throughout the body by adjusting vascular tone and releasing different vasoactive substances. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation response in humans may vary according to age, gender, the vascular bed involved and the presence of atherosclerotic disease. Vascular smooth muscle cells undergo different hyperpolarization and relaxation when exposed to nitric oxide (NO), prostacyclin and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHF), among others, as a result of the factors described above.
In the last decade, the importance of assessing microvascular function has become evident in research on the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk stratification. In this context, cutaneous microcirculation has been considered an accessible and representative vascular bed for assessing microvascular reactivity. Indeed, there is evidence of an association between cutaneous microvascular reactivity and the microcirculatory function in different vascular beds, concerning both the underlying mechanisms and the intensity of the endothelium-dependent vasodilation response. Therefore, assessing cutaneous microvascular reactivity has been proposed as a prognosis marker both for chronic disease and for the action of drugs related to the microvascular endothelial function.
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