Describe autoregulation within peripheral circulations
College Answer
Most candidates failed to fully comprehend the question. Candidates displayed some difficulty
in differentiating regulation at a local level (which is what the question asked for) from that of
central regulation (e.g. sympathetic nervous system activity, cardiac output, etc.), which was
not what the question asked for. Other omissions were a failure to define and explain
autoregulation. Most candidates mentioned the myogenic and the metabolic theories, but
failed to provide sufficient details as to their mechanisms. It was expected candidates would
provide some detail as to locally acting factors. Adenosine and nitric oxide were mentioned
on occasions but others such as endothelin and prostacyclin were often omitted.