Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Capillary Exchange

Capillary Exchange

The cardiovascular system's chief role is to disseminate gases, nutrients, waste, and other substances to the body's cells. Small molecules like gases, lipids, and lipid-soluble substances directly diffuse through capillary wall endothelial cell membranes. Glucose, amino acids, and ions, including sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride, use transporters for facilitated diffusion via membrane-specific channels. Glucose, ions, and bigger molecules may also pass through intercellular clefts.

Fluid Movement Between Compartments

Fluid Movement Between Compartments

The force applied by fluids against a surface, known as hydrostatic pressure, initiates the transfer of fluid among different compartments. Within our blood vessels, the blood's hydrostatic pressure is a result of the heart's pumping action. At the arteriolar end of capillaries, hydrostatic pressure (capillary blood pressure) exceeds the opposing colloid osmotic pressure created primarily by plasma proteins like albumin. This discrepancy in pressure propels plasma and nutrients from the...

Capillary Beds

Capillary Beds

Capillary beds are networks of tiny blood vessels that play a crucial role in the circulatory system. These beds are where the exchange of gases, nutrients, and waste products occurs between the blood and surrounding tissues. Each capillary bed consists of numerous capillaries, which are the smallest blood vessels in the body, typically only one cell-thick. This thinness allows for the efficient diffusion of substances.
Capillaries connect arterioles, small branches of arteries, to venules,...

Autoregulation of Blood Flow

Autoregulation of Blood Flow

Autoregulation mechanisms are characterized by their inherent capacity for self-regulation without necessitating specific nervous stimulation or endocrine control. These mechanisms facilitate the adjustment of blood flow and, therefore, perfusion specific to each tissue region. This self-regulation encompasses chemical signals and myogenic controls.
Chemical Signaling in Autoregulation
Chemical signaling operates at the precapillary sphincter level, inciting either contraction or relaxation.

Physiological Pharmacokinetic Models: Blood Flow-Limited Versus Diffusion-Limited Models

Physiological Pharmacokinetic Models: Blood Flow-Limited Versus Diffusion-Limited Models

Physiological pharmacokinetic models, often called flow-limited or perfusion models, typically assume a swift drug distribution between tissue and venous blood, creating a rapid drug equilibrium. This premise is based on the idea that drug diffusion is extremely fast, and the cell membrane presents no barrier to drug permeation. In this scenario, where no drug binding occurs, the drug concentration in the tissue equals that of the venous blood leaving the tissue. This greatly simplifies the...

Blood Flow

Blood Flow

Blood is pumped by the heart into the aorta, the largest artery in the body, and then into increasingly smaller arteries, arterioles, and capillaries. The velocity of blood flow decreases with increased cross-sectional blood vessel area. As blood returns to the heart through venules and veins, its velocity increases. The movement of blood is encouraged by smooth muscle in the vessel walls, the movement of skeletal muscle surrounding the vessels, and one-way valves that prevent backflow.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Eugene M Renkin. His Many Contributions to Microvascular Research With Examples of How They Inform Current Investigations of Microvascular Dysfunction.

Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994)·2025

Same author

The patterns in urine excretion and transvascular fluid exchange in human subjects during intravenous fluid infusion: A quantitative analysis.

Clinical physiology and functional imaging·2024

Same author

John squire and endothelial glycocalyx structure: an unfinished story.

Journal of muscle research and cell motility·2022

Same author

The Colloid Osmotic Pressure Across the Glycocalyx: Role of Interstitial Fluid Sub-Compartments in Trans-Vascular Fluid Exchange in Skeletal Muscle.

Frontiers in cell and developmental biology·2021

Same author

Advances in the Starling Principle and Microvascular Fluid Exchange; Consequences and Implications for Fluid Therapy.

Frontiers in veterinary science·2021

Same author

Understanding and extending the Starling principle.

Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica·2020

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Microperfusion Technique to Investigate Regulation of Microvessel Permeability in Rat Mesentery

Microperfusion Technique to Investigate Regulation of Microvessel Permeability in Rat Mesentery

Published on: September 12, 2015

Microvascular fluid exchange and the revised Starling principle.

J Rodney Levick¹, C Charles Michel

¹Physiology, Basic Medical Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, London, UK.

Cardiovascular Research

|March 5, 2010

Summary

The Starling principle for microvascular fluid exchange needs updates. New models incorporating interstitial fluid pressure and the glycocalyx explain fluid balance and swelling more accurately.

More Related Videos

Non-invasive Assessment of Microvascular and Endothelial Function

Non-invasive Assessment of Microvascular and Endothelial Function

Published on: January 29, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Microperfusion Technique to Investigate Regulation of Microvessel Permeability in Rat Mesentery

Microperfusion Technique to Investigate Regulation of Microvessel Permeability in Rat Mesentery

Published on: September 12, 2015

Non-invasive Assessment of Microvascular and Endothelial Function

Non-invasive Assessment of Microvascular and Endothelial Function

Published on: January 29, 2013

Area of Science:

Physiology
Biophysics
Microcirculation

Background:

Microvascular fluid exchange (J(v)) is crucial for plasma/interstitial fluid (ISF) balance and edema.
The traditional Starling principle requires modification due to ISF pressures and the endothelial glycocalyx's role.

Purpose of the Study:

To revise the understanding of microvascular fluid exchange.
To incorporate the glycocalyx model and ISF pressures into Starling's principle.
To explain fluid balance and edema formation in various tissues.

Main Methods:

Analysis of sum-of-forces evidence and direct microvascular observations.
Application of the glycocalyx model to explain filtration and lymph formation.
Utilizing a two-pore system model to investigate inflammation effects.

Main Results:

Microvascular absorption is transient; slight filtration dominates in most tissues.
ISF colloid osmotic pressure (COP) inversely relates to filtration rate (J(v)).
The glycocalyx model explains low filtration rates via plasma protein gradients.
ISF COP's effect on J(v) is less than predicted by conventional Starling principles.

Conclusions:

Modern models, considering ISF pressure and the glycocalyx, better predict microvascular fluid exchange.
The glycocalyx model and ISF COP dynamics are key to understanding fluid balance.
Increased large pore activity significantly elevates J(v) during acute inflammation.