Small arteries, which play important roles in controlling blood flow, blood pressure and capillary pressure, are under nervous influence. Their innervation is predominantly sympathetic and sensory-motor in nature and while some arteries are densely innervated others are only sparsely so. Innervation of small arteries is a key mechanism in regulating vascular resistance. In the second half of the previous century the physiology and pharmacology of this innervation was very actively investigated. In the past 10-20 years the activity in this field was more limited. With this review we highlight what has been learned during recent years with respect to development of small arteries and their innervation, some aspects of excitation-release coupling, interaction between sympathetic and sensory-motor nerves, cross-talk between endothelium and vascular nerves, and some aspects of their role in vascular inflammation and hypertension. We also highlight what remains to be investigated to further increase our understanding of this fundamental aspect of vascular physiology.

中文翻译：

---

外周小动脉中的交感神经和感觉运动神经

在控制血流、血压和毛细血管压力方面发挥重要作用的小动脉受到神经的影响。它们的神经支配本质上主要是交感神经和感觉运动，而一些动脉是密集的神经支配，而另一些则是稀疏的。小动脉的支配是调节血管阻力的关键机制。在上个世纪下半叶，人们非常积极地研究了这种神经支配的生理学和药理学。在过去的 10-20 年中，该领域的活动较为有限。通过这篇综述，我们强调了近年来在小动脉的发育及其神经支配、兴奋-释放耦合的某些方面、交感神经和感觉-运动神经之间的相互作用、内皮和血管神经之间的串扰，以及它们在血管炎症和高血压中的作用的某些方面。我们还强调了仍有待研究的内容，以进一步增加我们对血管生理学这一基本方面的理解。