Relaxation and contraction rates - underestimated parameters of vascular contractility?

Abstract

There was a special point in the study by Nguy and colleagues (Nguy et al., 2016) published in this issue of Acta Physiologica that made me curious: the investigation of arterial contractile behavior using the rate of relaxation. In the majority of studies exploring the function of the circulatory system, vascular contractility is assessed as increases or decreases in either vessel wall tension or vessel diameter after reaching a steady-state. The question, however, how this steady-state is attained, i.e. the dynamics of the contractile response, has been addressed in a few cases only. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.