Recent advances in organ microcirculation research.

This review article dealt with progress in the research of gastroenterological organ microcirculation in Japan. It must be emphasized that this remarkable progress particularly in intravital microcirculatory observations at organ level is attributable to great improvement of microscopic devices combined with computerized system, development of new techniques for measuring microcirculatory blood flow and pioneering of a variety of fluorescent and isotope-labelled tracers. Little attention has been directed toward the fact that microvascular manifestations are perhaps the earliest signs of "cells and tissues" dysfunction in disease processes. The microvasculature undergoes a substantial remodeling not only in vascular wall structures, but also in network characteristics themselves especially in chronic disease. Those microvascular alterations in an organ system, which primarily originate in adaptations to the microenvironmental changes, would lead to the chronicity and self-perpetuation of disease. As has been noted in the IVth World Congress for Microcirculation organized by the Japanese Society for Microcirculation, which was held in Tokyo, July 26-30, 1987, further progress has been made in the research of organ microcirculation in the gastroenterological and other fields. It is the cornerstone for better understanding of the pathogenesis of organ diseases to clarify the earliest alterations in the microvasculature of an organ system from a combined aspect of microhemo- and microlymphocirculation using the newly developed techniques for microcirculation study.