From the Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, China (S.Y.).
Division of Experimental Medicine and Immunotherapeutics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (S.Y., C.M.M.).
Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2020 May;40(5):1028-1033. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.120.313128. Epub 2020 Mar 19.
The large elastic arteries fulfill an important role in buffering the cyclical changes in blood pressure, which result from intermittent ventricular ejection. With aging and accrual of cardiovascular risk factors, the elastic arteries stiffen, and this process holds a number of deleterious consequences for the cardiovascular system and major organs. Indeed, arterial stiffness is now recognized as an important, independent determinant of cardiovascular disease risk. Additional, important information concerning the mechanisms underlying arterial stiffening has come from longitudinal studies of arterial stiffness. More recently, attention has focused on the role of peripheral, muscular arteries in cardiovascular disease risk prediction and, in particular, the clinical consequences of reversal of the normal gradient of arterial stiffness between central and peripheral arteries, with aging and disease.
大动脉在缓冲血压的周期性变化方面发挥着重要作用，这些变化是由心室间歇性射血引起的。随着年龄的增长和心血管危险因素的积累，弹性动脉变硬，这一过程对心血管系统和主要器官造成了许多不良后果。事实上，动脉僵硬度现在被认为是心血管疾病风险的一个重要的独立决定因素。关于动脉僵硬度的潜在机制的其他重要信息也来自于对动脉僵硬度的纵向研究。最近，人们的注意力集中在周围的、肌肉动脉在心血管疾病风险预测中的作用上，特别是在随着年龄的增长和疾病的发展，中心和外周动脉之间的动脉僵硬度正常梯度逆转的临床后果。
