Department of Musculoskeletal & Ageing Science, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Kuwait University, Khaldiya, Kuwait; Department of Genetics & Bioinformatics, Dasman Diabetes Institute (DDI), Dasman, Kuwait.
Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2021 Apr;254:110889. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.110889. Epub 2021 Jan 11.
Krogh's Nobel prize for insightful studies into the physiology of capillaries heralded a revolution in understanding that continues today. The view of passive conduits has been replaced by capillaries recognised as a key element in haemodynamic control, offering both a site where changes in tissue demand are sensed and a driver of integrated vascular responses. In addition, the capillary bed is known to play an important role in metabolic, hormonal and immune homeostasis. Not surprisingly, therefore, microvascular dysfunction is a hallmark of many central and peripheral diseases, leading to widespread morbidity and mortality. Consequently, there is growing interest in how best to specifically target this organ-system by means of effective angiotherapies. Underpinning a lot of our current understanding of capillary physiology has been a recognition of functional heterogeneity among different microvascular beds. In addition, there is increasing awareness of the role that spatial heterogeneity plays in determining both physiological and pathological outcomes that has led to an appreciation that quality, rather than just quantity of microvascular supply is important. This has required a re-appraisal of the methods used to determine both the extent and topology of the capillary network, with the benefit of facilitating new ways of exploring dynamic regulation of capillary supply and its potential consequences.
克罗格因对毛细血管生理学的有见地的研究而获得诺贝尔奖，这为我们今天对毛细血管的理解带来了一场革命。被动管道的观点已经被认识到毛细血管是血液动力学控制的关键因素所取代，为组织需求变化的感知提供了一个场所，并为整合的血管反应提供了驱动力。此外，毛细血管床在代谢、激素和免疫平衡中起着重要作用。因此，毫不奇怪，微血管功能障碍是许多中枢和外周疾病的标志，导致广泛的发病率和死亡率。因此，人们越来越感兴趣的是，通过有效的血管治疗，如何最好地针对这个器官系统。我们目前对毛细血管生理学的理解很大程度上是基于对不同微血管床之间功能异质性的认识。此外，人们越来越意识到空间异质性在决定生理和病理结果方面所起的作用，这导致人们认识到，微血管供应的质量而不仅仅是数量很重要。这需要重新评估用于确定毛细血管网络的范围和拓扑结构的方法，这有助于探索毛细血管供应的动态调节及其潜在后果的新方法。
