Journal of Applied Physiology AJP: Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

J Appl Physiol 105: 389, 2008; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.90436.2008
8750-7587/08 $8.00
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Holowatz, L. A.
Right arrow Articles by Kenney, W. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Holowatz, L. A.
Right arrow Articles by Kenney, W. L.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Commentary on Viewpoint: The human cutaneous circulation as a model of generalized microvascular function

TO THE EDITOR: We thank the commentators for their insightful remarks and for engaging in important dialog on this issue. In our viewpoint article, we asserted that the cutaneous circulation is an accessible microvascular bed that has utility for examining mechanisms underlying microvascular function and dysfunction (3). Microvascular dysfunction a systemic disease process that occurs and progresses in a similar fashion in multiple tissue beds throughout the body (1). Therefore, assessing the mechanisms mediating impaired cutaneous vasoreactivity in clinical populations may provide insights into systemic disease process as well as the underlying mechanisms of lifestyle and pharmacological treatment modalities. Using in vivo skin specific techniques, we and others have demonstrated that cutaneous vascular responsiveness is attenuated in several systemic pathologies, including hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, hypercholesterolemia, aging, renal disease, peripheral vascular disease, and systemic sclerosis. Furthermore, these mechanistic investigations have uncovered similar alterations in specific signaling pathways remarkably similar to those observed in other nutritive vascular beds. The available pharmacological interventions, coupled with skin-specific methodologies to induce vasoconstriction and vasodilation (2), allow for the targeted manipulation of specific vascular signaling pathways in healthy and clinical populations with a degree of insight and rigor not previously available.

Each regional circulation possesses autonomic and localized control mechanisms unique to their underlying functions. It is naive to think that one could simply extrapolate specific findings from one regional circulation to another or from the microcirculation to macrocirculation. While the underlying mechanisms mediating vasoreactivity to specific stimuli can be different in different vascular beds (e.g., reactive hyperemia in skin vs. muscle; Refs. 4, 5), we and others have been able to systematically delineate to signaling mechanisms involved in the skin and how they are altered with various pathologies. It is clear that additional rigorous mechanistic research is necessary to more fully understand the impact of the local tissue environment on microvascular control and the generalizability of findings about specific impairments in vascular signaling in the cutaneous circulation to other microcirculations.

FOOTNOTES


Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: L. A. Holowatz, 204 Noll Laboratory, Univ. Park, PA 16802 (e-mail: Lma191{at}psu.edu)

REFERENCES

  1. Abularrage CJ, Sidawy AN, Aidinian G, Singh N, Weiswasser JM, Arora S. Evaluation of the microcirculation in vascular disease. J Vasc Surg 42: 574–581, 2005.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]
  2. Cracowski JL, Minson CT, Salvat-Melis M, Halliwill JR. Methodological issues in the assessment of skin microvascular endothelial function in humans. Trends Pharmacol Sci 27: 503–508, 2006.[CrossRef][Medline]
  3. Holowatz LA, Thompson-Torgerson CS, Kenney WL. Viewpoint: The human cutaneous circulation as a model of generalized microvascular function. J Appl Physiol; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00858.2007.[Free Full Text]
  4. Medow MS, Taneja I, Stewart JM. Cyclooxygenase and nitric oxide synthase dependence of cutaneous reactive hyperemia in humans. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 293: H425–H432, 2007.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
  5. Wong BJ, Wilkins BW, Holowatz LA, Minson CT. Nitric oxide synthase inhibition does not alter the reactive hyperemic response in the cutaneous circulation. J Appl Physiol 95: 504–510, 2003.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Lacy A. Holowatz1
Caitlin S. Thompson-Torgerson2
W. Larry Kenney1,3
 1Department of Kinesiology and 3Intercollege Degree Program in Physiology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania; 2Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, Baltimore, Maryland





This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Holowatz, L. A.
Right arrow Articles by Kenney, W. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Holowatz, L. A.
Right arrow Articles by Kenney, W. L.

HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2008 by the American Physiological Society.