Endothelial injury

It refers to the damage in the delicate, single-cell layer lining your blood vessels and heart. This endothelial lining plays important roles as:

(i)   Blood vessel diameter by releasing NO(nitrous oxide) that is a direct vasodilator.

(ii)  Blood coagulation and fluidity is also controlled by endothelium, as it prevents the blood to come in contact with smooth muscles of blood vessels.

(iii)  Another very important role of endothelial lining is Promoting angiogenesis, that means formation of new blood vessels for improving blood perfusion to certain tissue.

So an injury in endothelial lining may affect all of these functions that is if blood vessels are not dilated no enhanced blood supply to heart muscles would occur in case of exertion, similarly if blood fluidity is not managed more clot formation would occur that may even cause unstable angina, as well as if new blood vessels would not efficiently be formed blood perfusion to heart tissue will be affected.