PATH 310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Tunica Intima, Tunica Media, Endothelial Dysfunction
6 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Elastic and muscular arteries that are medium sized. Increasing risk factors: elevated lipids in plasma, ldl cholesterol/bad fat, architecture of arteries. Build up lipids, cholesterol, calcium and cellular debris. Vascular inflammation: hardens and occludes lumen, limits blood flow. Ischemia: fibrous cap of plaque can rupture. Connective tissue: atherosclerosis is a disease of the tunica intima. Sub-endothelial matrix is where fatty plaque is: arteries have thicker tunica media. Carotid has lots of bifurcations: bifurcations. Vessel comes off other like side road: branch sites. Mechanical forces on vessel wall: pressure. Stretches vessel wall on vascular smooth muscle cells: shear stress. Magnitude is proportional to blood flow and viscosity. Magnitiude is inversely proportional to vessel radius. Laminar flow: straight long vessel, good. Anti-inflammatory: keeps endothelial cells in quiescent state. Inconsistency of direction and magnitude is unfavorable: endothelial cells are cobblestone-like, even when shear stress is less than laminar force.
