Microvascular Research: Biology and Pathology
http://www.100md.com
《新英格兰医药杂志》
It is difficult to think of a single physiologic or pathologic process that is not dramatically influenced by the microcirculation, the smallest functional unit of the cardiovascular system. The microcirculation is where the interaction between blood and tissue creates the environment necessary for cell function; when functioning normally, it is a remarkable ensemble of signaling pathways that direct the many interacting cell types that regulate blood flow through networks of staggering complexity. The medical community is now beginning to understand and accept the importance of this vital system in the pathogenesis of a wide variety of diseases.
This book comes at a critical time in the history of microcirculation research, which can trace its origins to the ancient philosophical writings in the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine and, later, to the first direct observations of microvascular blood flow by Marcello Malpighi in 1661. With the advent of clinically relevant methods to assess and image circulatory function in the smallest vessels, an understanding of the basic physiology of the microcirculation is now relevant to the practicing physician and the basic scientist alike. It is no small task to assemble this information, simply because a textbook on the microcirculation must cover material from dynamic cell and network function to vessel growth and development — the ability of the microcirculation to grow new blood vessels is crucial in the recovery of vital organs from stroke and heart attack. David Shepro and his group of experts are uniquely qualified for this task. More than 300 persons have contributed to this 2-volume, 167-chapter work.
In volume 1, with each of the 83 chapters written by experts in the field, the fundamental groundwork is presented. It explains the function of the cells, tissues, and networks that make up the microcirculation. In volume 2, 84 chapters do the same for diseases, therapies, and methods. The authors are leaders in their respective fields and have written the most up-to-date reviews available on their topics. Shepro himself, the founding editor and former editor in chief of the international journal Microvascular Research (he is now honorary consulting editor), has written more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and several books. To ensure that the text of the book is easily accessible, a reference source on CD-ROM of the complete, interlinked contents is also available.
One particularly nice aspect of this book is the contributors' tight focus on the key aspects of their subjects (a characteristic made possible in part by the annotated bibliographies, which give the contributors freedom to point to broader areas of consideration). For example, the chapters covering the cellular signaling pathways of relevance in the microcirculation system give a unique perspective on disease processes and provide the link between clinical and molecular medicine. The later chapters on pathology cover the fundamental aspects of microcirculatory function and provide a mechanistic catalogue of the role of the microcirculation in a striking variety of human diseases. These mechanisms are reviewed in the text with refreshing new insight and novel approaches — many applied in the contributors' own research — to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of blood flow control.
Overall, Shepro and his coeditors pack an abundance of facts and ideas into this comprehensive set of minireviews that will propel our understanding of the microcirculation forward and encourage the next round of research and practice in the field. This book is an important contribution worth the attention of anyone who hopes to understand the biologic systems that are fundamental to the practice of medicine.
Andrew S. Greene, Ph.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI 53226
agreene@mcw.edu(Edited by David Shepro, P)
This book comes at a critical time in the history of microcirculation research, which can trace its origins to the ancient philosophical writings in the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine and, later, to the first direct observations of microvascular blood flow by Marcello Malpighi in 1661. With the advent of clinically relevant methods to assess and image circulatory function in the smallest vessels, an understanding of the basic physiology of the microcirculation is now relevant to the practicing physician and the basic scientist alike. It is no small task to assemble this information, simply because a textbook on the microcirculation must cover material from dynamic cell and network function to vessel growth and development — the ability of the microcirculation to grow new blood vessels is crucial in the recovery of vital organs from stroke and heart attack. David Shepro and his group of experts are uniquely qualified for this task. More than 300 persons have contributed to this 2-volume, 167-chapter work.
In volume 1, with each of the 83 chapters written by experts in the field, the fundamental groundwork is presented. It explains the function of the cells, tissues, and networks that make up the microcirculation. In volume 2, 84 chapters do the same for diseases, therapies, and methods. The authors are leaders in their respective fields and have written the most up-to-date reviews available on their topics. Shepro himself, the founding editor and former editor in chief of the international journal Microvascular Research (he is now honorary consulting editor), has written more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and several books. To ensure that the text of the book is easily accessible, a reference source on CD-ROM of the complete, interlinked contents is also available.
One particularly nice aspect of this book is the contributors' tight focus on the key aspects of their subjects (a characteristic made possible in part by the annotated bibliographies, which give the contributors freedom to point to broader areas of consideration). For example, the chapters covering the cellular signaling pathways of relevance in the microcirculation system give a unique perspective on disease processes and provide the link between clinical and molecular medicine. The later chapters on pathology cover the fundamental aspects of microcirculatory function and provide a mechanistic catalogue of the role of the microcirculation in a striking variety of human diseases. These mechanisms are reviewed in the text with refreshing new insight and novel approaches — many applied in the contributors' own research — to better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms of blood flow control.
Overall, Shepro and his coeditors pack an abundance of facts and ideas into this comprehensive set of minireviews that will propel our understanding of the microcirculation forward and encourage the next round of research and practice in the field. This book is an important contribution worth the attention of anyone who hopes to understand the biologic systems that are fundamental to the practice of medicine.
Andrew S. Greene, Ph.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, WI 53226
agreene@mcw.edu(Edited by David Shepro, P)