Microcirculation最新文献

Objective

Intravascular lymphatic valves often occur in proximity to vessel junctions. It is commonly held that disturbed flow at junctions is responsible for accumulation of valve-forming cells (VFCs) at these locations as the initial step in valve creation, and the one which explains the association with these sites. However, evidence in favor is largely limited to cell culture experiments.

Methods

We acquired images of embryonic lymphatic vascular networks from day E16.5, when VFC accumulation has started but the developing valve has not yet altered the local vessel geometry, stained for Prox1, which co-localizes with Foxc2. Using finite-element computational fluid mechanics, we simulated the flow through the networks, under conditions appropriate to this early development stage. Then we correlated the Prox1 distributions with the distributions of simulated fluid shear and shear stress gradient.

Results

Across a total of 16 image sets, no consistent correlation was found between Prox1 distribution and the local magnitude of fluid shear, or its positive or negative gradient.

Conclusions

This, the first direct semi-empirical test of the localization hypothesis to interrogate the tissue from in vivo at the critical moment of development, does not support the idea that a feature of the local flow determines valve localization.

Objective

This study focuses on evaluating the disruptions in key physiological parameters during microstroke events to assess their severity.

Methods

A mathematical model was developed to simulate the changes in cerebral tissue pO₂, glucose concentration, and temperature due to blood flow interruptions. The model considers variations in baseline cerebral blood flow (CBF), capillary density, and blood oxygen/glucose levels, as well as ambient temperature changes.

Results

Simulations indicate that complete blood flow obstruction still allows for limited glucose availability, supporting nonoxidative metabolism and potentially exacerbating lactate buildup and acidosis. Partial obstructions decrease tissue pO₂, with minimal impact on glucose level, which can remain almost unchanged or even slightly increase. Reduced CBF, capillary density, or blood oxygen due to aging or disease enhances hypoxia risk at lower obstruction levels, with capillary density having a significant effect on stroke severity by influencing both pO₂ and glucose levels. Conditions could lead to co-occurrence of hypoxia/hypoglycemia or hypoxia/hyperglycemia, each worsening outcomes. Temperature effects were minimal in deep brain regions but varied near the skull by 0.2–0.8°C depending on ambient temperature.

Conclusions

The model provides insights into the conditions driving severe stroke outcomes based on estimated levels of hypoxia, hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia, and temperature changes.

Objective

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a severe complication with high mortality. High plantar pressure and poor microcirculation are considered main causes of DFU. The specific aims were to provide a novel technique for real-time measurement of plantar skin blood flow (SBF) under walking-like pressure stimulus and delineate the first plantar metatarsal head dynamic microcirculation characteristics because of life-like loading conditions in healthy individuals.

Methods

Twenty young healthy participants (14 male and 6 female) were recruited. The baseline (i.e., unloaded) SBF of soft tissue under the first metatarsal head were measured using laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF). A custom-made machine was utilized to replicate daily walking pressure exertion for 5 min. The exerted plantar force was adjusted from 10 N (127.3 kPa) to 40 N (509.3 kPa) at an increase of 5 N (63.7 kPa). Real-time SBF was acquired using the LDF. After each pressure exertion, postload SBF was measured for comparative purposes. Statistical analysis was performed using the R software.

Results

All levels of immediate-load and postload SBF increased significantly compared with baseline values. As the exerted load increased, the postload and immediate-load SBF tended to increase until the exerted load reached 35 N (445.6 kPa). However, in immediate-load data, the increasing trend tended to level off as the exerted pressure increased from 15 N (191.0 kPa) to 25 N (318.3 kPa). For postload and immediate-load SBF, they both peaked at 35 N (445.6 kPa). However, when the exerted force exceeds 35 N (445.6 kPa), both the immediate-load and postload SBF values started to decrease.

Conclusions

Our study offered a novel real-time plantar soft tissue microcirculation measurement technique under dynamic conditions. For the first metatarsal head of healthy people, 20 N (254.6 kPa)-plantar pressure has a fair microcirculation stimulus compared with higher pressure. There might be a pressure threshold at 35 N (445.6 kPa) for the first metatarsal head, and soft tissue microcirculation may decrease when local pressure exceeds it.

Objective

The sympathetic–parasympathetic (or axo–axonal) interaction mechanism mediated that neurogenic relaxation, which was dependent on norepinephrine (NE) releases from sympathetic nerve terminal and acts on β₂-adrenoceptor of parasympathetic nerve terminal, has been reported. As NE is a weak β₂-adrenoceptor agonist, there is a possibility that synaptic NE is converted to epinephrine by phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT) and then acts on the β₂-adrenoceptors to induce neurogenic vasodilation.

Methods

Blood vessel myography technique was used to measure relaxation and contraction responses of isolated basilar arterial rings of rats.

Results

Nicotine-induced relaxation was sensitive to propranolol, guanethidine (an adrenergic neuronal blocker), and N^ω-nitro-l-arginine. Nicotine- and exogenous NE-induced vasorelaxation was partially inhibited by LY-78335 (a PNMT inhibitor), and transmural nerve stimulation depolarized the nitrergic nerve terminal directly and was not inhibited by LY-78335; it then induced the release of nitric oxide (NO). Epinephrine-induced vasorelaxation was not affected by LY-78335. However, these vasorelaxations were completely inhibited by atenolol (a β₁-adrenoceptor antagonist) combined with ICI-118,551 (a β₂-adrenoceptor antagonist).

Conclusions

These results suggest that NE may be methylated by PNMT to form epinephrine and cause the release of NO and vasodilation. These results provide further evidence supporting the physiological significance of the axo–axonal interaction mechanism in regulating brainstem vascular tone.

Objective

The endothelium regulates crucial aspects of vascular function, including hemostasis, vasomotor tone, proliferation, immune cell adhesion, and microvascular permeability. Endothelial cells (ECs), especially in arterioles, are pivotal for flow distribution and peripheral resistance regulation. Investigating vascular endothelium physiology, particularly in microvascular ECs, demands precise isolation and culturing techniques.

Methods

Freshly isolated ECs are vital for examining protein expression, ion channel behavior, and calcium dynamics. Establishing primary endothelial cell cultures is crucial for unraveling vascular functions and understanding intact microvessel endothelium roles. Despite the significance, detailed protocols and comparisons with intact vessels are scarce in microvascular research. We developed a reproducible method to isolate microvascular ECs, assessing substrate influence by cultivating cells on fibronectin and gelatin matrix gels. This comparative approach enhances our understanding of microvascular endothelial cell biology.

Results

Microvascular mesenteric ECs expressed key markers (VE-cadherin and eNOS) in both matrix gels, confirming cell culture purity. Under uncoated conditions, ECs were undetected, whereas proteins linked to smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts were evident.

Examining endothelial cell (EC) physiological dynamics on distinct matrix substrates revealed comparable cell length, shape, and Ca²⁺ elevations in both male and female ECs on gelatin and fibronectin matrix gels. Gelatin-cultured ECs exhibited analogous membrane potential responses to acetylcholine (ACh) or adenosine triphosphate (ATP), contrasting with their fibronectin-cultured counterparts. In the absence of stimulation, fibronectin-cultured ECs displayed a more depolarized resting membrane potential than gelatin-cultured ECs.

Conclusions

Gelatin-cultured ECs demonstrated electrical behaviors akin to intact endothelium from mouse mesenteric arteries, thus advancing our understanding of endothelial cell behavior within diverse microenvironments.

Objective

This study aimed to clarify the effect of Type I diabetes (DIA) on transcapillary PO₂ gradients, which are oxygen-driving factors between the blood and the interstitium, in the contracting muscle of rats.

Methods

Wistar male rats were divided into the diabetic (streptozocin i.p.) and sham groups. Microvascular and interstitial PO₂ were measured in the extensor digitorum longus muscle during electrical stimulation-induced muscle contraction, using the phosphorescence quenching method. Transcapillary PO₂ gradient, ΔPO₂, was calculated as microvascular minus interstitial PO₂.

Results

Resting microvascular PO₂ was higher in the diabetic group than in the sham group (6.3 ± 1.7 vs. 4.7 ± 0.9 mmHg, p < 0.05) and remained for 180 s. Interstitial PO₂ from rest to muscle contraction did not differ between the groups. The ΔPO₂ was higher in the diabetic group than in the sham group at rest and during muscle contraction (4.03 ± 1.42 vs. 2.46 ± 0.90 mmHg at rest; 3.67 ± 1.51 vs. 2.22 ± 0.65 mmHg during muscle contraction, p < 0.05). Marked muscle atrophy was observed in the diabetic group.

Conclusion

DIA increased microvascular and transcapillary PO₂ gradients in the skeletal muscle. The enhanced PO₂ gradients were maintained from rest to muscle contraction in diabetic muscle.

Objective

This study aimed to determine nicotine's impact on receptor-mediated cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) synthesis in vascular smooth muscle (VSM). We hypothesize that nicotine impairs β adrenergic–mediated cAMP signaling in VSM, leading to altered vascular reactivity.

Methods

The effects of nicotine on cAMP signaling and vascular function were systematically tested in aortic VSM cells and acutely isolated aortas from mice expressing the cAMP sensor ^TEpac^VV (Camper), specifically in VSM (e.g., Camper_SM).

Results

Isoproterenol (ISO)-induced β-adrenergic production of cAMP in VSM was significantly reduced in cells from second-hand smoke (SHS)–exposed mice and cultured wild-type VSM treated with nicotine. The decrease in cAMP synthesis caused by nicotine was verified in freshly isolated arteries from a mouse that had cAMP sensor expression in VSM (e.g., Camper_SM mouse). Functionally, the changes in cAMP signaling in response to nicotine hindered ISO-induced vasodilation, but this was reversed by immediate PDE3 inhibition.

Conclusions

These results imply that nicotine alters VSM β adrenergic–mediated cAMP signaling and vasodilation, which may contribute to the dysregulation of vascular reactivity and the development of vascular complications for nicotine-containing product users.

Objective

We attempted to record the regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) simultaneously at various regions of the cerebral cortex and the striatum during middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion and to evaluate neurological deficits and infarct formation.

Methods

In male C57BL/6J mice, CBF was recorded in three regions including the ipsilateral cerebral cortex and the striatum with laser Doppler flowmeters, and the origin of MCA was occluded with a monofilament suture for 15–90 min. After 48 h, neurological deficits were evaluated, and infarct was examined by triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining.

Results

CBF decrease in the striatum was approximately two-thirds of the MCA-dominant region of the cortex during MCA occlusion. The characteristic CBF fluctuation because of spontaneously occurred spreading depolarization observed throughout the cortex was not found in the striatum. Ischemic foci with slight lower staining to TTC were found in the ipsilateral striatum in MCA-occluded mice for longer than 30 min (n = 54). Twenty-nine among 64 MCA-occluded mice exhibited neurological deficits even in the absence of apparent infarct with minimum staining to TTC in the cortex, and the severity of neurological deficits was not correlated with the size of the cortical infarct.

Conclusion

Neurological deficits might be associated with the ischemic striatum rather than with cortical infarction.

Objective

Designing physiologically adequate microvascular trees is of crucial relevance for bioengineering functional tissues and organs. Yet, currently available methods are poorly suited to replicate the morphological and topological heterogeneity of real microvascular trees because the parameters used to control tree generation are too simplistic to mimic results of the complex angiogenetic and structural adaptation processes in vivo.

Methods

We propose a method to overcome this limitation by integrating a conditional deep convolutional generative adversarial network (cDCGAN) with a local fractal dimension-oriented constrained constructive optimization (LFDO-CCO) strategy. The cDCGAN learns the patterns of real microvascular bifurcations allowing for their artificial replication. The LFDO-CCO strategy connects the generated bifurcations hierarchically to form microvascular trees with a vessel density corresponding to that observed in healthy tissues.

Results

The generated artificial microvascular trees are consistent with real microvascular trees regarding characteristics such as fractal dimension, vascular density, and coefficient of variation of diameter, length, and tortuosity.

Conclusions

These results support the adoption of the proposed strategy for the generation of artificial microvascular trees in tissue engineering as well as for computational modeling and simulations of microcirculatory physiology.