Microcirculation plays important roles in normal physiology and in a multitude of pathological conditions. Microvascular leukocyte endothelial interactions and specific changes in blood flow are a hallmark of the innate immune response in inflammation. However, it requires sophisticated methods to study the microcirculation experimentally and it is challenging to obtain relevant data in humans. This Special Issue will review classical and modern microcirculatory methodology and present novel experimental and clinical results regarding changes within the microvasculature during local and systemic inflammatory processes. The understanding of those mechanisms will open new avenues for the development of anti-inflammatory drugs. The Journal of Vascular Research pub­lishes original articles and reviews of scientific excellence in vascular and microvascular biology, physiology and pathophysiology. The scope of the journal covers a broad spectrum of vascular and lymphatic research, including vascular structure, vascular function, haemodynamics, mechanics, cell signalling, intercellular communication, growth and differentiation. JVR’s ‘Vascular update’ series regularly presents state of the art reviews on hot topics in vascular biology. Manuscript processing times are, consistent with stringent review, kept as short as possible due to electronic ­submission. All articles are published online first, ensuring rapid publi­cation. The Journal of Vascular Research is the official journal of the European Society of Microcirculation. A biennial prize is awarded to the authors of the best ­paper published in the journal over the previous two years, thus encouraging young scientists working in the exciting field of vascular biology to publish their findings.