Aging induces macrostructural and microstructural remodeling of the vasculature, leading to arterial stiffness, endothelial dysfunction, and hypoperfusion independent of atherosclerosis.
This review highlights the morphological and structural alterations in aging vessels, emphasizing microvessel loss, intimal thickening, and elastin degradation as key drivers of age-related vascular dysfunction.
Among age-related diseases, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are major causes of death. Vascular dysfunction is a key characteristic of these diseases wherein age is an independent and essential risk factor. The present work will review morphological alterations of aging vessels in-depth, which includes the discussion of age-related microvessel loss and changes to vasculature involving the capillary basement membrane, intima, media, and adventitia as well as the accompanying vascular dysfunctions arising from these alterations.
Xu et al. (Sun,) conducted a review in Vascular aging. Aging induces macrostructural and microstructural remodeling of the vasculature, leading to arterial stiffness, endothelial dysfunction, and hypoperfusion independent of atherosclerosis.