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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 ] .
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.
Vascular resistance is the resistance that must be overcome for blood to flow through the circulatory system.The resistance offered by the systemic circulation is known as the systemic vascular resistance or may sometimes be called by another term total peripheral resistance, while the resistance caused by the pulmonary circulation is known as the pulmonary vascular resistance.
When renal blood flow is reduced (indicating hypotension) or there is a decrease in sodium or chloride ion concentration, the macula densa of the distal tubule releases prostaglandins (mainly PGI2 and PGE2) and nitric oxide, which cause the juxtaglomerular cells lining the afferent arterioles to release renin, activating the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, to increase blood pressure ...
In the kidney, the macula densa is an area of closely packed specialized cells lining the wall of the distal tubule where it touches the glomerulus.Specifically, the macula densa is found in the terminal portion of the distal straight tubule (thick ascending limb of the loop of Henle), after which the distal convoluted tubule begins.
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 ...