Regulatory mechanisms of arterial compliance and endothelial function in humans

我们大多数人都意识到，我们的血管在血液进出身体所有组织的过程中扮演着重要的角色。然而，血管不仅仅是用来输送血液的静态管子。我们血管的结构和功能可以适应它们面临的挑战，并可以在短时间和长时间内显着改变它们的功能水平。动脉(将血液从心脏输送出去的血管)的两个重要特征是它们的灵活性，以及它们在面临活动水平增加或减少等挑战时可以扩张的程度。我们有技术来评估这两个特征，僵硬和扩张能力，但我们对它们的监管知之甚少。在我的实验室里，我们一直在研究活动，作为一种改变动脉中压力和流量的技术，在改变动脉结构和功能方面所起的作用。例如，我们现在知道，尽管有氧运动可能会暂时削弱动脉对挑战的反应能力，但从更长的时间来看，有氧运动训练可以增加同一动脉的扩张能力。我们有兴趣在一些关于运动训练的初步研究的基础上进行一些研究，以确定调节短期反应的确切因素。我们还希望开始将调节动脉结构和功能的因素与活跃肌肉水平的局部血液流动联系在一起。为了做到这一点，我们设计了一些研究，通过运动和模仿运动的机械技术来增加和减少局部血流。拟议的研究计划的目标包括检查动脉结构和功能的变化对骨骼肌血流反应的影响，无论是在休息时还是在运动后。我们继续的研究将集中在使用尖端的超声波技术来检查血管僵硬和局部血流。从这些研究中获得的洞察力将有助于推进目前对心血管系统的基本知识。

Most of us realize that our blood vessels play an important role in transporting blood to and from all of the tissues of our body. Blood vessels are, however much more than static tubes for transporting blood. The structure and function of our blood vessels can adapt to challenges they are presented with and can change their level of function significantly over both short and long time frames. Two important features of our arteries (blood vessels which transport blood away from the heart) are how flexible they are and how much they can expand when faced with challenges such as increased or decreased activity level. We have techniques to assess these two features, stiffness and ability to expand, but we know very little about their regulation. In my laboratory we have been studying the role that activity, as a technique to change pressure and flow in arteries, plays in altering arterial structure and function. We now know, for example, that although aerobic exercise may temporarily impair the ability of an artery to expand in response to a challenge, over a longer time frame aerobic exercise training can increase the capacity of the same artery to expand. We are interested in following up some of our initial studies on exercise training with some studies to determine the precise factors which regulate the short term responses. We also want to start linking together the factors that regulate the structure and function of the arteries with the local blood flow at the level of the active muscles. To do this we have designed some studies which both increase and decrease local blood flow through exercise and mechanical techniques which mimic exercise. Objectives of the proposed research program include examination of the impact of alterations in artery structure and function on skeletal muscle blood flow responses both at rest, and acutely following exercise. Our continuing studies will focus on the use of cutting edge ultrasound technology to examine blood vessel stiffness and regional blood flow. The insight gained from these studies will assist in advancing the current basic knowledge of the cardiovascular system.