Title:Vascular Pathology from Smoking: Look at the Microcirculation!
Volume: 11
Issue: 4
Author(s): Aurelio Leone and Linda Landini
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Smoking, microcirculation, carbon monoxide, nicotine, cardiomyopathy.
Abstract: Both conduit and resistance arterial vessels may show vascular morphological and functional alterations due to
cigarette smoking. Pathological lesions involve the arterial wall or intravascular lumen with, primarily, narrowing and
thrombo-embolic events as an effect of endothelial and blood cell changes related to smoking. Functional disorders are the
result of a wide spectrum of biochemical, physiological and metabolic factors. While conduit vessel alterations have been
widely investigated, little is known about the changes induced by smoking on the microcirculation. It would seem that the
endothelium, platelet aggregation and adhesiveness, nervous system and metabolic changes play a role in damaging resistance
arteries and, then, the microcirculation. The result of these effects changes the blood flow and perfusion particularly
to the heart, brain and kidney. Alterations of the microcirculation can cause severe and widespread damage because, in
addition to the complications of the atherosclerotic lesion which characterizes large arteries, there is a failure of body organs
linked to the degree of microvascular damage. Moreover, it seems that 2 major compounds of cigarette smoke are
capable of determining vascular damage; initially, nicotine acts preferably on large arteries and carbon monoxide on small
arteries, although both compounds damage the vascular system.
