title: Coronary Microvascular Function and Beyond: The Crosstalk between Hormones, Cytokines, and Neurotransmitters.
abstract: Beyond its hemodynamic function, the heart also acts as a neuroendocrine and immunoregulatory organ. A dynamic communication between the heart and other organs takes place constantly to maintain cardiovascular homeostasis. The current understanding highlights the importance of the endocrine, immune, and nervous factors to fine-tune the crosstalk of the cardiovascular system with the entire body. Once disrupted, this complex interorgan communication may promote the onset and the progression of cardiovascular diseases. Thus, expanding our knowledge on how these factors influence the cardiovascular system can lead to novel therapeutic strategies to improve patient care. In the present paper, we review novel concepts on the role of endocrine, immune, and nervous factors in the modulation of microvascular coronary function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35100 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dal Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Sciences, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 2, 35100 Padua, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tona
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Cardiology, University of Zurich and University Heart Center, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital, Raemistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8196-5696
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Osto