Cell activation in the cardiovascular system and organ dysfunction

The author emphasizes the contribution of the smallest blood vessels in the circulation, i.e. the microcirculation, to vascular complications in ischemic diseases as well as in other cardiovascular complications. The microcirculation is composed of a vast network of microvessels whose function it is to supply nutrients to the tissue, remove metabolites, and exchange signaling molecules. Each organ has a microcirculation with structural, cellular and molecular features that are specific for the tissue parenchyma, so that vascular complications manifest themselves in an organ specific fashion. But in spite of this organ specificity, there is evidence to suggest that certain aspects of the cardiovascular complications in different organs have distinct similarities. These similarities are the focus of this discussion