Killing Me Unsoftly Causes and Mechanisms of Arterial Stiffness

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Alicia N. Lyle, Emory University; Uwe Raaz, Heart Center at the University Medical Center Göttingen
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-02-01
• Publisher: American Heart Association
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.116.308563
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
• ISSN: 1079-5642
• Volume: 37
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: E1
• End Page: E11
• Grant/Funding Information: Supported in part by National Institutes of Health K99/R00 HL119567 (ANL) and the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK; UR).
• Keywords: Cardiovascular System & Cardiology; CHRONIC KIDNEY-DISEASE; INCREASED AORTIC STIFFNESS; HUMAN THORACIC AORTA; arterial stiffness; aging; Science & Technology; wall stress; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES; VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL DYSFUNCTION; DIASTOLIC HEART-FAILURE; ISOLATED SYSTOLIC HYPERTENSION; PULSE-WAVE VELOCITY; Peripheral Vascular Disease; AGE-RELATED-CHANGES; pathophysiology; aortic compliance; SMOOTH-MUSCLE-CELLS; Hematology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Pathology

Abstract

The aorta is a blood vessel that provides a low-resistance path for blood flow directed from the heart to peripheral organs and tissues. However, the aorta has another central hemodynamic function, whereby the elastic nature of the aortic wall provides a significant biomechanical buffering capacity complementing the pulsatile cardiac blood flow, and this is often referred to as Windkessel function. Stiffening of the arterial wall leads to fundamental alterations in central hemodynamics, with widespread detrimental implications for organ function. In this Recent Highlights article, we describe recent contributions in ATVB that have highlighted the novel mechanisms and consequences of arterial stiffness and the clinical conditions in which arterial stiffness occurs, with a focus on advancements in the field.