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Other hormones (catecholamine, renin-angiotensin, vasopressin, and atrial natriuretic peptide) circulate in the bloodstream and can have an effect on the microcirculation causing vasodilation or vasoconstriction. Many hormones and neuropeptides are released together with classical neurotransmitters. [1]
Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels, in particular the large arteries and small arterioles. The process is the opposite of vasodilation , the widening of blood vessels.
Vasodilation plays a major role in immune system function. Wider blood vessels allow more blood containing immune cells and proteins to reach the infection site. Vasodilation occurs as part of the process of inflammation, which is caused by several factors including presence of a pathogen, injury to tissues or blood vessels, and immune ...
Resistance arteries are usually small arteries or arterioles and include precapillary sphincters. [1] Having thick muscular walls and narrow lumen they contribute the most to the resistance to blood flow. Degree of the contraction of vascular smooth muscle in the wall of a resistance artery is directly connected to the size of the lumen.
Vasodilation and vasoconstriction are also used antagonistically as methods of thermoregulation. [23] The size of blood vessels is different for each of them. It ranges from a diameter of about 30–25 millimeters for the aorta [24] to only about 5 micrometers (0,005 mm) for the capillaries. [25]
Like vasoconstriction, vasodilation can be caused by internal and external factors. For example, nitric oxide, found in food, is a very potent vasodilator. It has been found that nerves in the spinal column can trigger both processes. Vasodilation is also triggered for thermoregulation to provide heat dissipation.
An arteriole is a small-diameter blood vessel in the microcirculation that extends and branches out from an artery and leads to capillaries. [1] Arterioles have muscular walls (usually only one to two layers of smooth muscle cells) and are the primary site of vascular resistance. The greatest change in blood pressure and velocity of blood flow ...
Both of these factors affect pH and, in turn, the balance between vasodilation versus vasoconstriction in the brain. [3] [4] So, the blood vessels found specifically in the brain respond changes in dissolved carbon dioxide levels. Coronary (heart) circulation is controlled at the local level primarily by metabolic control mechanism. More ...