Abstract
The diameters of the small arteries feeding a microcirculatory bed are determined by the interaction of a number of controlling factors. Neural, humoral, and physical factors all interact to modulate the arterial diameter based on the prevailing local and systemic conditions. The neural and humoral systems are undoubtedly active mechanisms involved in feedback control systems to regulate tissue flow. However, changes in diameter as a result of physical forces, namely, changes in intralumenal pressure, may simply be a local response resulting from changes in vessel wall stresses. There are a number of experimental and pathological conditions in which studies of microvascular diameters are accompanied by significant decreases in systemic pressure. For example, previous studies (1,2) have shown that severe systemic hypoxia in the rat produced a substantial decrease in arterial pressure, and direct measurement of small artery diameters in the rat cremaster muscle showed significant decreases in diameter durin...
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