ReviewThe journal of physiological sciences : JPS2013
Are the precapillary sphincters and metarterioles universal components of the microcirculation? An historical review.
Review in The journal of physiological sciences : JPS, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- KMicrovascular research · 2025Article
- Pericytes in mouse heart.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- The evolving functions of the vasculature in regulating adipose tissue biology in health and obesity.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2023Review
- Red Blood Cells' Area Deformation as the Origin of the Photoplethysmography Signal.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Biology of vascular mural cells.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2023Review
- Microcirculatory dysfunction in cardiogenic shock.Annals of intensive care · 2023Review
- Ultrastructure of precapillary sphincters and the neurovascular unit.Vascular biology (Bristol, England) · 2023Article
- Capillary-Mitochondrial Oxygen Transport in Muscle: Paradigm Shifts.Function (Oxford, England) · 2023Review
- A Biophysical Model for Cardiovascular Effects of Acupuncture-Underlying Mechanisms Based on First Principles.Medical acupuncture · 2022Review
- Oxygen flux from capillary to mitochondria: integration of contemporary discoveries.European journal of applied physiology · 2022Review
- Muscle Oxygenation Level Might Trigger the Regulation of Capillary Venous Blood Filling during Fatiguing Isometric Muscle Actions.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Standardized microfluidic assessment of red blood cell-mediated microcapillary occlusion: Association with clinical phenotype and hydroxyurea responsiveness in sickle cell disease.Microcirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994) · 2021Article
- Microchannel network hydrogel induced ischemic blood perfusion connection.Nature communications · 2020Article
- Precapillary sphincters maintain perfusion in the cerebral cortex.Nature communications · 2020Article
- Edward F. Adolph Distinguished Lecture. Contemporary model of muscle microcirculation: gateway to function and dysfunction.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2019Review
- Skeletal muscle interstitial OMicrocirculation (New York, N.Y. : 1994) · 2019Review
- A Microcirculatory Theory of Aging.Aging and disease · 2019Article
- Neural architecture: from cells to circuits.Journal of neurophysiology · 2018Review
- Regulation of the microvascular circulation in the leg muscles, pancreas and small intestine in rats.SpringerPlus · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
The microcirculation is a major topic in current physiology textbooks and is frequently explained with schematics including the precapillary sphincters and metarterioles. We re-evaluated the validity and applicability of the concepts precapillary sphincters and metarterioles by reviewing the historical context in which they were developed in physiology textbooks. The studies by Zweifach up until the 1950s revealed the unique features of the mesenteric microcirculation, illustrated with impressive schematics of the microcirculation with metarterioles and precapillary sphincters. Fulton, Guyton and other authors introduced or mimicked these schematics in their physiology textbooks as representative of the microcirculation in general. However, morphological and physiological studies have revealed that the microcirculation in the other organs and tissues contains no metarterioles or precapillary sphincters. The metarterioles and precapillary sphincters were not universal components of the microcirculation in general, but unique features of the mesenteric microcirculation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.