The Cardiovascular System II. [antikvár]

Preface The first edition of the Handbook of Physiology section on Circulation appeared between 1962 and 1965. This pubUcation of the American Physiological Society consisted of three volumes that covered many aspects of the physiology of the heart and circulation. Since that time knowledge has advanced slowly in some areas of physiology, more quickly in others. Meanwhile the total body of information has grown almost exponentially, making it increasingly difficult to organize and meld old and new data to provide the reader with a comprehensive, critical appraisal of cardiovascular physiology. Nevertheless, the aim of the revised second Handbook section, retitled The Cardiovascular System, is to accomphsh these goals and produce authoritative reference works with extensive bibliographies. The books will be useful to students of physiology at all stages of study, to professional physiologists, and to interested scientists in related disciplines. The utility of the Handbook of Physiology, Circulation has been proved by its continued and ongoing use by many investigators and teachers, a condition the editors hope wiU also be true for this revision, but the accelerated pace of cardiovascular and other research will probably demand a subsequent edition in a shorter interval of time. The Cardiovascular System will consist of four volumes on the heart, vascular smooth muscle, the microcirculation, and the peripheral and organ system circulation. It is anticipated that these volumes will be published within the next few years and wiU cover all aspects of cardiovascular physiology. Most serious muscle physiologists eschew the study of vascular smooth muscle because of the difficulties related to its being wrapped up in collagen, elastin, and ground substance, and because of the striking differences among smooth muscles from different vascular beds. Recently, however, the functional importance of this tissue has excited a few of these professionals, and has caused some cardiovascular physiologists to develop expertise in muscle physiology in order to study this contractile system in the blood vessel wall. Jointly these investigators have amassed information for this Handbook on Vascular Smooth Muscle. In twenty-one chapters, this volume deals broadly with the structure, chemistry, and function of vascular smooth muscle. The chapters are organized into six sections that treat vascular smooth muscle from the following aspects: 1) The structure is dealt with from the vantage point of the relationship of the smooth muscle cell to the architecture of the blood vessel wall, the uitrastructure of the individual cell, and the morphogenesis of vascular smooth muscle. 2) The biochemistry of vascular smooth muscle reviews the considerable new information that is developing regarding the contractile and regulatory proteins, the chemical functions of the subcellular particles, and the energy metabohsm of the ceU. 3) Chapters deahng with the electrolytes and electrophysiology review the state of our knowledge regarding electrolyte content and fluxes in vascular smooth muscle and how these influence the membrane and action potentials of the cell. Details of the all-important role of calcium in excitation-con-traction coupling are presented. 4) Muscle mechanics of the system are dealt with from the point of view of the contractile mechanics of the individual cell and of the vessel wall as a whole, and from the point of view of the circulatory correlations of compliance, resistance, and capacitance of the vascular tree. 5) The regulation of vascular smooth muscle deals with myogenic activity, physical factors (light and tempera-tvu-e), humoral agents, and neurogenic factors. Finally, in an epilogue that relates smooth muscle to other contractile systems, the phylogenetic variations of this muscle are described. The copy editing of this volume was a group effort, shared with care, by Mary L. Crabill, Cay Butler, and Anne Hayes. Brenda B. Rauner served as production manager. david f. bohr andrew p. somlyo harvey v. sparks, jr.