Books in the Colloquium Series on Integrated Systems Physiology: From Molecule to Function series

Hypertension, or elevated blood pressure, is a major risk factor for various cardiovascular, renal diseases, and stroke. This book provides an overview of the various methods employed to study the genetics of hypertension, and discusses the progress and prospects of this area of research that may contribute towards individualized clinical management of hypertension in the future.

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a cardiovascular disorder of the peripheral vasculature due to progressive atherosclerotic stenosis of conduit arteries restricting blood flow to tissues. PAD is typically a disease of older individuals. This title discusses PAD signs and symptoms, pathophysiological mechanisms, current management, and future disease targets and possible therapeutic treatments.

In recent years it has become evident that endothelial cells in pulmonary arteries, capillary and veins are heterogeneous in structure and function. This title reviews evidence for endothelial heterogeneity among these pulmonary vascular segments, and considers the implications for such heterogeneity in lung fluid balance, especially as it relates to the Starling equation.

Discusses our intimate relationship with and dependence on water, how the body regulates its water levels, and various pathophysiological states associated with impairments in body water homeostasis. The human body consists of 70-80% water. Therefore, concise control of water homeostasis is essential to survival and involves coordination of several systems.

The purpose of this presentation is to provide basic information about the operation and regulation of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, as well as the properties of the blood and parenchymal cells, so that a fundamental understanding of the regulation of tissue oxygenation is achieved.

Reviews special features of the cerebral circulation and how they contribute to the physiology of the brain. This volume describes structural and functional properties of the cerebral circulation that are unique to the brain, an organ with high metabolic demands and the need for tight water and ion homeostasis.

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Variability in pathogenesis and complex pathophysiology often delay diagnosis and create significant challenges for clinical studies in this group of critically ill patients. This book provides an overview about the state of the art of sepsis diagnostics and potential future therapies.

Myocardial perfusion is collectively regulated by a complex variety of mechanisms. This book considers each of these determinants with particular emphasis on the functional interaction between the physical and biological determinants of myocardial perfusion. Pathophysiologic aspects of coronary atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease states are also considered.

Reviews important aspects of polycystic kidney diseases, the latest scientific understanding of the diseases and syndromes, along with the therapies being developed. Cystic kidney diseases comprise a spectrum of genetic syndromes defined by renal cyst formation and expansion with variable extrarenal manifestations. The most prevalent disorder is the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Focuses on the role of the endocannabinoid system in local and systemic inflammation, with individual chapters written by experts in the field of cannabinoid research and medicine. The topics explore the actions of the endocannabinoid system on the immune system, including neuroinflammation in autoimmune disorders and in neurodegenerative disorders.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a complex and dynamic structure that protects the brain from cells within the vasculature, from the immune system and from pathogens. This book focuses on various aspects that account for the formation and maintenance of the BBB, and on disease states that compromise this barrier.

Nitric oxide (NO) is a key regulator of various cellular signaling pathways throughout the body and plays an important role in renal function under normal physiological and pathophysiological conditions. The goal of this book is to highlight the actions of NO within the kidney and its effects on the regulation of renal blood flow and tubular transport.

Our knowledge of the molecular and cellular processes that contribute to stroke pathophysiology has increased substantially and offers many targets for future therapeutic strategies. This book provides an overview of the current knowledge of stroke pathophysiology and the mechanisms that interfere with recovery and regeneration.

Covers the basics of pulmonary gas exchange, providing a central understanding of the processes involved, the interactions between the components upon which gas exchange depends, and basic equations of the process.

Reviews the evidence supporting the concept that intrinsic cell survival programmes can be activated by a variety of mildly noxious stimuli or pharmacologic agents to confer protection against the deleterious effects of ischemia/reperfusion.

The understanding of the pathophysiology of erectile dysfunction (ED) has advanced significantly over the past two decades. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the current knowledge of the pathophysiology of ED in order to provide the reader with an up-to-date and comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology of ED.

Dengue is a major public health concern throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. This book focuses on understanding host-pathogen interactions. It presents readers with a comprehensive description of the immune response to the Dengue virus, detailing how DENV unbalances host homeostasis.

Necrotizing enterocolitis is an acute inflammatory necrosis of bowel that primarily afflicts premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit setting. Although patients who develop this disease have high morbidity and mortality rates, the pathogenesis is poorly understood. This title discusses new approaches based on sound evidence.

Provides a history of the early studies linking immune system function with hypertension and an overview of the large number of studies published in the past decade. The major focus is on the components of the innate and adaptive immune systems for which there is considerable evidence of their contributions to blood pressure control.

The gastrointestinal mucosal defense system serves to minimize mucosal injury by either ingested or endogenously produced noxious substances. However, there are two situations in which the mucosal defense system is known to be ineffective and result in gastric mucosal injury: inadvertent ingestion of H. pylori. or intentional ingestion of NSAIDs.

Several physiological mechanisms act to regulate renal potassium excretion and distribution. Together they comprise an integrated control system that may be envisioned as being made up of several interacting negative feedback control mechanisms. The intent of this volume is to describe the mechanisms of potassium regulation.

The control of breathing during exercise remains the source of considerable debate. Classical schemes of the exercise hyperpnea have incorporated elements of proportional feed-back from chemoreceptor sites and feed-forward neurogenic control. However, the precise details of the control process are still not fully resolved.