Arteriole
Arteriole
Arterioles (/ɑːrˈtɪəri.oʊl/) are small-diameter blood vessels in the circulatory system that extend and branch out from an artery and lead to capillaries.
Etymology
The term "arteriole" is derived from the Latin word "arteriola", a diminutive of "arteria", which means artery.
Function
Arterioles play a key role in regulating blood flow and pressure. They are the primary site of vascular resistance, which controls the distribution of blood flow to different organs and tissues in the body. The contraction and relaxation of the smooth muscle in their walls, a process known as vasoconstriction and vasodilation, respectively, determine the volume of blood that can flow through them.
Related Terms
- Artery: A blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body.
- Capillary: The smallest of the body's blood vessels, which connect arterioles to venules and enable the exchange of water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other nutrients and waste substances between the blood and the tissues.
- Vasoconstriction: The narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels.
- Vasodilation: The widening of blood vessels resulting from relaxation of the muscular wall of the vessels.
- Vascular resistance: The resistance that must be overcome to push blood through the circulatory system and create flow.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Arteriole
- Wikipedia's article - Arteriole
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski