Introduction and objective: In 1886, Starling proposed a hypothesis for the capillary–interstitial fluid (ISF) transfer, in which the capillary was thought a tube of a uniform diameter that is impermeable to plasma proteins. The flow of fluid across its wall was thought dependent upon a balance between the hydrostatic pressure within its lumen causing ‘filtration’, and the osmotic pressure of p...

Rat lungs were inflated and incubated in either anionic or cationic ferritin, and alveolar and capillary basement membranes were examined by electron microscopy. Cationic ferritin bound to heparan sulfate proteoglycans on the external surface of the alveolar basement membrane, whereas cationic ferritin bound to the lamina densa of the capillary basement membranes. Anionic and cationic ferritin ...

A set of indicator-dilution studies of the coronary circulation of the intact functioning heart was carried out in the dog to provide a data base for defining the effect of changes in vasomotor control on the exchange of materials across the myocardial capillaries. The reference substance used was 125I-labeled albumin; the diffusible substance used was 14C-labeled sucrose. Model analyses of the...

We analyzed published measurements of the bronchial circulation and airway wall (Anderson JC, Bernard SL, Luchtel DL, Babb AL, and Hlastala MP. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 132: 329-339, 2002) and determined that the radial distribution of bronchial capillary cross-sectional area was fractal. We limited our analysis to bronchial capillaries, diameter < or =10 mum, that resided between the epithelia...

Blood fluidity in the capillaries is affected significantly in diseases such as cardiac and brain infarcts, diabetic gangrene and many others. In view of the importance of physiology and pathology of capillary circulation, the hemorheological characteristics of the capillary blood flow are discussed in this article. Also, a new diagnosing technique for blood fluidity disorders is proposed. A co...

Examination of peripheral circulation is easily done by touching the skin, measuring capillary refill time (CRT) or even by observing the skin mottling pattern. The cutaneous vascular bed plays an important role in thermoregulation of the body, and this process can result in skin circulation alterations that have direct effects on skin temperature and colour, i.e., a cold, clammy, white and mot...