AUTOREGULATION-PRINCIPLES

SUMMARY

1. Regulation exists to control and direct blood flow (BF) to vital organs when necessary (brain, heart, kidneys).2. Linear relationship between metabolic rate (MR) & BF ⟹ 8x increase MR in skeletal muscle is assoc. with 4x increase in BF.

CONTROL
3. Local BF control: by autoregulation (via myogenic response) & locally produced vasodilator metabolites.
4. Systemic BF control: sympathetic nerves & circulating vasoactive substances.
5. Long-term BF control occurs by changes in the number & size of blood vessels.

Reference(s)

Barrett, K.E., Barman, S.M., Boitano, S., Brooks, H.L., Weitz, M., Brian Patrick Kearns, Ganong, W.F. and Mcgraw-Hill Education (Firm (2016). Ganong’s review of medical physiology. 25th ed. New York: Mcgraw Hill Education.
Hall, J.E. and Hall, M.E. (2020). Guyton And Hall Textbook Of Medical Physiology. 14th ed. S.L.: Elsevier - Health Science.
West, J.B. and Luks, A.M. (2021). West’s Pulmonary Pathophysiology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.