Evaluation of the Microvascular Tone: On the Paper 'Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Diseases and the Capillary Endothelium in Subjects with Different Levels of Normal Blood Pressure' by Ya.B. Khovaeva and M.D. Berg

摘要

Recently, little attention has been paid to studies of microcirculation in human extremities. Therefore, the study of Ya.B. Khovaeva and M.D. Berg published in Fiziologiya Cheloveka (Human Physiology) considering this problem deserves appreciation. The capillary filtration coefficient (CFC) and the number of capillaries functioning were estimated before and during postocclusive hyperemia by means of occlusion plethysmography of the middle third of the forearm and of the crus. One of the methods included the use of the CFC difference during and before hyperemia for evaluating the baseline myogenic tone of precapillary sphincters before hyperemia. Based on a higher absolute increase in the CFC, the authors concluded that subjects with a lower baseline blood pressure (BP) show a higher tone of precapillary sphincters. Was this methodological approach correct? The microvascular tones at rest and after functional loading could be different. The parameters of a loading test might not correspond to the initial state of the responding system.