Arterial formation begins and ends when endothelial cells begin to express arterial
specific genes, such as ephrin B2.[5]
Function
[edit]
Arteries form part of the human circulatory system
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Main article: Circulatory system
Arteries form part of the circulatory system. They carry blood that is oxygenated after it
has been pumped from the heart. Coronary arteries also aid the heart in pumping blood
by sending oxygenated blood to the heart, allowing the muscles to function. Arteries
carry oxygenated blood away from the heart to the tissues, except for pulmonary
arteries, which carry blood to the lungs for oxygenation (usually veins carry
deoxygenated blood to the heart but the pulmonary veins carry oxygenated blood as
well).[6] There are two types of unique arteries. The pulmonary artery carries blood from
the heart to the lungs, where it receives oxygen. It is unique because the blood in it is
not "oxygenated", as it has not yet passed through the lungs. The other unique artery is
the umbilical artery, which carries deoxygenated blood from a fetus to its mother.
Arteries have a blood pressure higher than other parts of the circulatory system. The
pressure in arteries varies during the cardiac cycle. It is highest when the heart
contracts and lowest when heart relaxes. The variation in pressure produces a pulse,
which can be felt in different areas of the body, such as the radial pulse. Arterioles have
the greatest collective influence on both local blood flow and on overall blood pressure.
They are the primary "adjustable nozzles" in the blood system, across which the
greatest pressure drop occurs. The combination of heart output (cardiac output)
and systemic vascular resistance, which refers to the collective resistance of all of the
body's arterioles, are the principal determinants of arterial blood pressure at any given
moment.
Arteries have the highest pressure and have narrow lumen diameter.[clarification needed]
Systemic arteries are the arteries (including the peripheral arteries), of the systemic
circulation, which is the part of the cardiovascular system that
carries oxygenated blood away from the heart, to the body, and returns deoxygenated
blood back to the heart. Systemic arteries can be subdivided into two types—muscular
and elastic—according to the relative compositions of elastic and muscle tissue in their
tunica media as well as their size and the makeup of the internal and external elastic
lamina. The larger arteries (>10 mm diameter) are generally elastic and the smaller
ones (0.1–10 mm) tend to be muscular. Systemic arteries deliver blood to the arterioles,
and then to the capillaries, where nutrients and gasses are exchanged.
After traveling from the aorta, blood travels through peripheral arteries into smaller
arteries called arterioles, and eventually to capillaries. Arterioles help in regulating blood
pressure by the variable contraction of the smooth muscle of their walls, and deliver
blood to the capillaries. This smooth muscle contraction is primarily influenced by
activity of the sympathetic vasomotor nerves innervating the arterioles.[7] [8] Enhanced
sympathetic activation prompts vasoconstriction, reducing the lumen diameter. A
reduced lumen diameter consequently elevates the blood pressure within the arterioles.
[9]
Conversely, decreased sympathetic activity within the vasomotor nerves causes
vasodilation of the vessels thereby decreasing blood pressure.[10]
