Arteries are finely tuned thermosensors regulating myogenic tone and blood flow

Abstract

In response to changing blood pressure, arteries adjust their caliber to control perfusion. This vital autoregulatory property, termed vascular myogenic tone, stabilizes downstream capillary pressure. We discovered that tissue temperature critically determines myogenic tone. Heating steeply activates tone in skeletal muscle, gut, brain and skin arteries with temperature coefficients ( Q ₁₀ ) of ∼11-20. Further, arterial thermosensitivity is tuned to resting tissue temperatures, making myogenic tone sensitive to small thermal fluctuations. Interestingly, temperature and intraluminal pressure are sensed largely independently and integrated to trigger myogenic tone. We show that TRPV1 and TRPM4 mediate heat-induced tone in skeletal muscle arteries. Variations in tissue temperature are known to alter vascular conductance; remarkably, thermosensitive tone counterbalances this effect, thus protecting capillary integrity and fluid balance. In conclusion, thermosensitive myogenic tone is a fundamental homeostatic mechanism regulating tissue perfusion.

One-sentence summary: Arterial blood pressure and temperature are integrated via thermosensitve ion channels to produce myogenic tone.