Table 1.

Changes in capillary morphology in MVD risk factors

Risk factor	Changes in capillary morphology	Reference(s)
Dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (human)	Irregular capillary diameters. Frequent narrowing of the capillary lumen due to thickened endothelial cells ~20 % of capillaries affected	[74, 100]
Diabetes (human)	Thickening of basement membrane	[34]
SVD without CAD (human)	Reduced capillary diameters. Frequent narrowing of the capillary lumen due to thickened endothelial cells. ~50 % of capillaries affected	[74]
Chagas disease (human)	Basement membrane thickening	[33]
Fabry’s disease (animal model)	Glycosphingolipid inclusions in the capillary endothelium	[31]
Smoking	Nicotine up-regulates the expression of adhesion molecules in the capillary endothelium and increases leukocyte rolling	[2, 122]