AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 249, Issue 2 386-H392, Copyright © 1985 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

Evidence that capillary perfusion heterogeneity is not controlled in striated muscle

D. H. Damon and B. R. Duling

We tested the hypothesis that the heterogeneity of capillary blood flow distribution in striated muscle is inversely proportional to tissue blood flow by examining the patterns of red blood cell flow in the capillaries of hamster tibialis anterior muscles. Capillary red blood cell velocities and capillary red blood cell fluxes were measured as indexes of blood flow and red blood cell distribution in vasoconstricted and vasodilated vascular beds of resting and working striated muscle. Standard statistical parameters describing dispersion of data (standard deviation and coefficient of variation) in addition to measured and normalized histograms were compared across treatments. With vasodilation the standard deviations of both variables increased linearly with the means, and measured distributions became broader. The coefficients of variation and normalized distributions of both variables did not differ across treatments. These observations do not support the idea that the heterogeneity of capillary perfusion is controlled. Rather they suggest that fractional flow dispersion among capillaries is constant and independent of muscle blood flow and/or O2 demand.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. W. G. E. VanTeeffelen, A. A. Constantinescu, J. Brands, J. A. E. Spaan, and H. Vink Bradykinin- and sodium nitroprusside-induced increases in capillary tube haematocrit in mouse cremaster muscle are associated with impaired glycocalyx barrier properties J. Physiol., July 1, 2008; 586(13): 3207 - 3218. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. H. Clerk, M. A. Vincent, E. J. Barrett, M. F. Lankford, and J. R. Lindner Skeletal muscle capillary responses to insulin are abnormal in late-stage diabetes and are restored by angiogensin-converting enzyme inhibition Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, December 1, 2007; 293(6): E1804 - E1809. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. E. Richardson, C. A. Kindig, T. I. Musch, and D. C. Poole Effects of chronic heart failure on skeletal muscle capillary hemodynamics at rest and during contractions J Appl Physiol, September 1, 2003; 95(3): 1055 - 1062. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. A. Kindig, T. E. Richardson, and D. C. Poole Skeletal muscle capillary hemodynamics from rest to contractions: implications for oxygen transfer J Appl Physiol, June 1, 2002; 92(6): 2513 - 2520. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. G. Emerson and S. S. Segal Alignment of microvascular units along skeletal muscle fibers of hamster retractor J Appl Physiol, January 1, 1997; 82(1): 42 - 48. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Dawson, M. A. Vincent, E. J. Barrett, S. Kaul, A. Clark, H. Leong-Poi, and J. R. Lindner Vascular recruitment in skeletal muscle during exercise and hyperinsulinemia assessed by contrast ultrasound Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, March 1, 2002; 282(3): E714 - E720. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]