VEIN FUNCTION, BIOMECHANICS AND LOCAL CONTROL MECHANISMS

Many of the venous functions are biomechanical in their nature and/or related closely to biomechanical (hemodynamic) forces: 1 Blood conduits, collectors with flow-rectifying valves 2. Maintenance of filling pressure for the right heart by controlling venous return in the face of widely varying cardiac output arterial pressure buffer 3. Capacity function, redistribution of blood volume 4. Postcapillary resistance function 5. Transcapillary exchange of materials, selective barrier 6. Transmural transport 7. Angiogenesis 8. Synthesis of biologically active substances by the endothelium, smooth mucle cells and pericytes 9. Cooperation between venous endothelium and the PMNL-s (margination and rolling) 10 Inhibition of thromboembolic reactions 11. Supporting the orthostatic tolerance of the organism 12. An effector system of adaptation to whole body challenges 13. Special regional functions.
Local mechanisms controlling venous biomechanics may include a.) mechanical, b.) hormonal, c.) ionic, d.) metabolic, and e.) neural processes.
Biomechanical behavior of the veins was shown to alter adaptively in response to several other physiological factors and states, such as ambient temperature, pregnancy, age, body size, chronically increased gravitational load, as well as long-term physical exercise and even in certain pathophysiological conditions (e.g. experimental and human hypertension diseases).