Arteriolosclerosis is a form of cardiovascular disease involving hardening and loss of elasticity of

arteriole An arteriole is a small-diameter blood vessel in the microcirculation that extends and branches out from an artery and leads to capillaries. Arterioles have muscular walls (usually only one to two layers of smooth muscle cells) and are the primar ...

s or small

arteries An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pu ...

and is most often associated with hypertension and

diabetes mellitus Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

. Types include hyaline arteriolosclerosis and hyperplastic arteriolosclerosis, both involved with vessel wall thickening and luminal narrowing that may cause downstream

ischemic injury Ischemia or ischaemia is a restriction in blood supply to any tissue, muscle group, or organ of the body, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (to keep tissue alive). Ischemia is generally caused by problems wit ...

. The following two terms whilst similar, are distinct in both spelling and meaning and may easily be confused with arteriolosclerosis. *

Arteriosclerosis Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which ...

is any hardening (and loss of elasticity) of medium or large arteries (from the Greek '' arteria'', meaning ''artery'', and '' sclerosis'', meaning ''hardening'') *

Atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no s ...

is a hardening of an artery specifically due to an

atheromatous plaque An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal and reversible accumulation of material in the inner layer of an arterial wall. The material consists of mostly macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variable amount o ...

. The term ''atherogenic'' is used for substances or processes that cause atherosclerosis.

Hyaline arteriolosclerosis

Also arterial hyalinosis and arteriolar hyalinosis refers to thickening of the walls of arterioles by the deposits that appear as homogeneous pink hyaline material in routine staining. It is a type of arteriolosclerosis, which refers to thickening of the arteriolar wall and is part of the ageing process. ;Associations It is associated with aging, hypertension,

and may be seen in response to certain drugs (

calcineurin inhibitor Immunosuppressive drugs, also known as immunosuppressive agents, immunosuppressants and antirejection medications, are drugs that inhibit or prevent activity of the immune system. Classification Immunosuppressive drugs can be classified into ...

s). It is often seen in the context of kidney pathology. In hypertension only the afferent arteriole is affected, while in diabetes mellitus, both the afferent and

efferent arteriole The efferent arterioles are blood vessels that are part of the urinary tract of organisms. Efferent (from Latin ex + ferre) means "outgoing", in this case meaning carrying blood out away from the glomerulus. The efferent arterioles form a converg ...

are affected. ;Cause Lesions reflect leakage of plasma components across

vascular The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away f ...

endothelium The endothelium is a single layer of squamous endothelial cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. The endothelium forms an interface between circulating blood or lymph in the lumen and the rest of the vesse ...

and excessive

extracellular matrix In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM), also called intercellular matrix, is a three-dimensional network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, such as collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins and hydroxyapatite that provide s ...

production by

smooth muscle cells Smooth muscle is an involuntary non-striated muscle, so-called because it has no sarcomeres and therefore no striations (''bands'' or ''stripes''). It is divided into two subgroups, single-unit and multiunit smooth muscle. Within single-unit mus ...

, usually secondary to hypertension. Hyaline arteriolosclerosis is a major morphologic characteristic of benign nephrosclerosis, in which the arteriolar narrowing causes diffuse impairment of

renal The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; bloo ...

blood supply, with loss of nephrons. The narrowing of the lumen can decrease renal blood flow and hence

glomerular filtration rate Renal functions include maintaining an acid–base balance; regulating fluid balance; regulating sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes; clearing toxins; absorption of glucose, amino acids, and other small molecules; regulation of blood pre ...

leading to increased

renin Renin (etymology and pronunciation), also known as an angiotensinogenase, is an aspartic protease protein and enzyme secreted by the kidneys that participates in the body's renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS)—also known as the r ...

secretion and a perpetuating cycle with increasing blood pressure and decreasing kidney function.

Hyperplastic arteriolosclerosis

This is a type of arteriolosclerosis involving a narrowed lumen. The term "onion-skin" is sometimes used to describe this form of blood vessel with thickened concentric smooth muscle cell layer and thickened, duplicated basement membrane. In

malignant hypertension A hypertensive emergency is very high blood pressure with potentially life-threatening symptoms and signs of acute damage to one or more organ systems (especially brain, eyes, heart, aorta, or kidneys). It is different from a hypertensive urgency ...

these hyperplastic changes are often accompanied by fibrinoid necrosis of the arterial intima and media. These changes are most prominent in the kidney and can lead to ischemia and acute kidney failure. ;Cause It can be caused by malignant hypertension.

References

External links

{{Vascular diseases Vascular diseases