Arterial Endothelial Functions: Its Relationship with Atherosclerosis

pp 373-384

Abstract

Arterial endothelium is not a simple barrier that separates the circulating blood from the arterial wall, but, on the other hand, it is an active element that performs several metabolic functions that participate in the biology of circulation and the arterial wall itself. Several functions are described analizyng in particular those related to the coagulation and thrombosis, vasomotility, and those that keep the integrity of the endothelium stratum and its permeability. Endothelial functions are fulfilled depending on some substances that integrate the endothelial cell or are synthetized and released by it: thrombomodulin, tisular plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1, urokinase, prostacyclin, endothelium derived relaxing factor, nitric oxide, endothelins and, in particular, endothelin-1, glycosaminoglycanes, endothelium de-rived hyperpolarizing factor, endothelium derived contracting factor, integrins and others. Several chemical, hormonal, and mechanical stimuli, as the tangencial stress of the circulating blood flow(shear stress), can act on the endothelial cell activating or inhibiting the secretion and release of the substances mentioned above. It is suggested a correlation between the alterations of endothelial function and pathogenic aspects of atherosclerosis in its different stages.