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World J Cardiol. Apr 26, 2015; 7(4): 204-214
Published online Apr 26, 2015. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v7.i4.204
Autonomic and endocrine control of cardiovascular function
Richard Gordan, Judith K Gwathmey, Lai-Hua Xie
Richard Gordan, Judith K Gwathmey, Lai-Hua Xie, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07101, United States
Lai-Hua Xie, School of Pharmacology, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453000, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: All the authors equally contributed to this work.
Supported by National Institutes of Health, NHLBI R01 HL97979.
Conflict-of-interest: None.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Lai-Hua Xie, PhD, FAHA, Associate Professor, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Ave, MSB-G609, Newark, NJ 07101, United States. xiela@njms.rutgers.edu
Telephone: +1-973-9722411Fax:+1-973-9727489
Received: December 20, 2014
Peer-review started: December 20, 2014
First decision: January 8, 2015
Revised: January 22, 2015
Accepted: February 10, 2015
Article in press: February 12, 2015
Published online: April 26, 2015
Processing time: 121 Days and 11.6 Hours
Abstract

The function of the heart is to contract and pump oxygenated blood to the body and deoxygenated blood to the lungs. To achieve this goal, a normal human heart must beat regularly and continuously for one’s entire life. Heartbeats originate from the rhythmic pacing discharge from the sinoatrial (SA) node within the heart itself. In the absence of extrinsic neural or hormonal influences, the SA node pacing rate would be about 100 beats per minute. Heart rate and cardiac output, however, must vary in response to the needs of the body’s cells for oxygen and nutrients under varying conditions. In order to respond rapidly to the changing requirements of the body’s tissues, the heart rate and contractility are regulated by the nervous system, hormones, and other factors. Here we review how the cardiovascular system is controlled and influenced by not only a unique intrinsic system, but is also heavily influenced by the autonomic nervous system as well as the endocrine system.

Keywords: Heart; Cardiovascular function; Autonomic nervous system; Endocrine system; Regulation

Core tip: The function of the heart is to contract and pump oxygenated blood to the body and deoxygenated blood to the lungs. To achieve this goal, a normal human heart must contract regularly and continuously, and respond to the changing requirements of the body’s tissues. Here we review how the cardiovascular system is controlled and influenced by not only a unique intrinsic system, but is also heavily influenced by the autonomic nervous system as well as the endocrine system.