Distribution, function and pathologic impacts of cardiac lymphatic vessels / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

Drainage of lymph plays an important role in maintaining homeostasis of the myocardium. In heart diseases such as myocardial infarction and heart failure, injure or dysfunction of the lymphatic vessels result in cardiac lymphedema, leading to cardiac fibrosis, inflammation and cardiac dysfunction. In recent years, more attention has been put on studying relation of cardiac lymphedema with heart diseases and physiopathologic impacts of cardiac lymphangiogenesis. Targeting cardiac lymphangiogenesis is regarded as a feasible therapy for relieving cardiac lymphedema. However, the optimized strategies to sustainedly release growth factors or drugs and to transplant stem / progenitor cells need to be investigated. This article reviews mainly the characteristics of the distribution and function of the cardiac lymphatic vessels, and discusses the pathologic affects of cardiac lymphedema, the mechanisms of cardiac lymphangiogenesis and clinical impacts of promoting cardiac lymphangiogenesis.