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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 is the opposite of vasoconstriction, which is the narrowing of blood vessels. When blood vessels dilate , the flow of blood is increased due to a decrease in vascular resistance and increase in cardiac output [ further explanation needed ] .
A precapillary sphincter is a band of contractile mural cells either classified as smooth muscle or pericytes that adjusts blood flow into capillaries.They were originally described in the mesenteric microcirculation, and were thought to only reside there.
Transmission electron micrograph of a microvessel displaying an erythrocyte (E) within its lumen which is deformed due to vasoconstriction. Arteries—and veins to a degree—can regulate their inner diameter by contraction of the muscular layer. This changes the blood flow to downstream organs and is determined by the autonomic nervous system.
Vasodilation and vasoconstriction are complex phenomena; they are functions not merely of the fluid mechanics of pressure and tissue elasticity but also of active homeostatic regulation with hormones and cell signaling, in which the body produces endogenous vasodilators and vasoconstrictors to modify its vessels' compliance.
Agonists of alpha-2 receptors in the vascular smooth muscle lead to vasoconstriction. However, in clinical practice drugs applied intravenously that are agonists of alpha-2 receptors such as clonidine lead to powerful vasodilation, which causes a decrease in blood pressure by presynaptic activation of the receptors in the sympathetic ganglia.
The smooth muscle cell membranes have α and β-adrenergic receptors for these neurotransmitters. Activation of α-adrenergic receptors promotes vasoconstriction, while the activation of β-adrenergic receptors mediates the relaxation of muscle cells, resulting in vasodilation. Normally, α-adrenergic receptors predominate in smooth muscle of ...
This secondary vasodilation caused by the primary vasoconstriction is termed functional sympatholysis, the overall effect of which on coronary arteries is dilation. [12] The target synapse of the postganglionic neuron is mediated by adrenergic receptors and is activated by either norepinephrine (noradrenaline) or epinephrine (adrenaline).