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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
In Vitro Model of Physiological and Pathological Blood Flow with Application to Investigations of Vascular Cell Remodeling
Published on: November 3, 2015
[Biomechanics of the circulatory system and its pharmacological modulation]
K Nakayama1, K Ishii, Y Tanaka
1Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Japan.
Insights
Biomechanical forces from blood flow and heart contractions influence cardiovascular health. Understanding these hemodynamic stimuli is key to developing new treatments for conditions like hypertension and atherosclerosis.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Cardiovascular system responds to biomechanical stimuli from blood pressure, flow, and cardiac/vascular contractions.
- Hemodynamic stimuli involve cellular signaling and interactions between blood, endothelium, and smooth muscles.
- Abnormal biomechanical stimuli contribute to cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, vasospasm, and atherosclerosis.
Framework:
- Discusses research on shear stress, endothelial function, blood pressure/flow regulation, myogenic tone, and mechanosensitive ion channels.
- Summarizes findings from the 66th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society.
- Highlights the clinical implications of varying shear stress levels and hemodynamic overload.
Implementation:
- Focuses on the physiological responses to mechanical forces within the cardiovascular system.
- Explores the role of mechanosensitive ion channels in cardiovascular regulation.
- Examines the link between abnormal hemodynamic stimuli and specific cardiovascular pathologies.
Implications:
- Advances understanding of hemodynamic mechanisms in both health and disease.
- Paves the way for novel therapeutic strategies and drug development.
- Offers insights into managing conditions linked to altered blood flow and pressure.
Abstract:
The pressure and flow produced by circulating blood as well as contractions of the heart and blood vessels act as biomechanical stimuli on the cardiovascular system. The cardiovascular response to the hemodynamic stimuli is a type of physical reception and a subsequent reaction, and thus touches the core of up-to-date problems, including cellular signaling and the interaction between the blood and endothelium and/or medial smooth muscles. Pathophysiological conditions such as vasospasm, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia and myocardial hypertrophy, and atherosclerosis, are also caused by abnormal biomechanical stimuli. The present article summarizes the papers presented at the congress symposium of the 66th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society, in which the present status and the future prospects of current research fields such as shear stress and endothelial function, regulation of blood pressure and flow, myogenic tone, mechanosensitive ion channels, and clinical implications of high and low shear stress and hemodynamic overload were actively discussed. These studies will surely open the way to an era for the development of new drugs, and improvements in the knowledge about the hemodynamic mechanisms in health and disease.
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