Table 1.

Some recognized functions of the endothelial glycocalyx (48–50, 52, 69, 70).

Functions	Mechanisms	Reference
Barrier and filter	Protection from shear	(71)
	Exchange of water and solutes	(48)
	Sieve for plasma proteins	(57, 59)
	Uptake of low density lipoproteins	(63, 72)
	Repels red blood cells	(50)
Cell adhesion regulation	Prevents leukocyte adhesion	(56–58, 60, 73)
	Prevents platelet adhesion	(74)
Anticoagulation	Tissue factor pathway inhibitor	(48)
	Antithrombin	(50, 75)
	Thrombomodulin	(50)
Complement regulation	Complement factor H binding	(76)
Colloid-osmotic gradient	Absorption of albumin and smaller solutes	(65, 71)
Mechano-transducer	Nitric oxyde production	(50, 68, 77)
	Prostacyclin production	(48)
Inter-endothelial communication	Regulation of endothelial gap junctions	(78, 79)