Tyler Locke Week 6

 I spent most of this week reading, focused on vascular contributions to pulmonary hypertension. While I am focused primarily on the microvasculature, I am also looking at some literature looking at pulmonary arterial remodeling in PH. While there are some structural and functional differences between these vessels, I think there is enough overlap to make understanding arterial pathophysiology important for this project. 

Arterial-associated PH involves pathological remodeling of the pulmonary arteries, increasing vascular resistance and pulmonary arterial pressure. This remodeling involves all layers of the artery, although the exact progression is unknown. Pulmonary arteries consist of 3 primary layers: the intima, which consists primarily of an endothelial cell barrier; the media which consists of vascular smooth muscle cells; and the adventitia, which consists of fibroblasts. Remodeling of these layers can result in cellular hyperproliferation and phenotypic changes, as well as changes in the extracellular matrix. All of these can affect hemodynamics, increasing vascular resistance and arterial pressure.