Pflügers Archiv

, Volume 370, Issue 3, pp 227–232 | Cite as

Effects of hypoxia on capillary density and fiber composition in rat skeletal muscle

  • A. H. Sillau
  • Natalio Banchero
Article
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Summary

Capillary density, fiber composition and myoglobin concentration were determined in skeletal muscle of Sprague-Dawley female rats. PIO2 for control (C) rats was 123 mm Hg; for hypoxic (H) rats the O2 concentration in air was lowered to 12.6% (PIO2=73 mm Hg) over 4 days and then kept at this level for 39 days. Body weight (BW) in C rats went from 182 to 258 g in 6 weeks. H rats showed an initial 13 g drop in BW but later gained weight at the same rate. A difference of 20 g was maintained between C and H rats. Five groups of about 10 rats each (3 C and 2 H) were studied by histochemistry using frozen samples from the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius (medial head) and soleus muscles. 20 μm slices, cut transversely, were treated for alkaline phosphatase and ATPase after preincubation at pH's of 3.8 to 9.4 in order to visualize capillaries and typify fibers. In both C and H rats, capillary density decreased at the same rate with increasing BW, as a consequence of the increase in the size of the fibers resulting from growth. At the same BW capillary densities for a given muscle were not statistically different. No consistent differences in fiber composition were found in the soleus after exposure to hypoxia. In the gastrocnemius and the tibialis anterior, however, the percentage population of white fibers tended to be higher in the H rats than in the C rats, while the population of red fibers decreased. Myoglobin concentration was higher in the soleus, a muscle with a preponderant intermediate fiber population, than in the other two muscles. Hypoxia did not systematically affect myoglobin concentration.

Key words

Altitude Capillary density Fiber composition Hypoxia Myoglobin Skeletal muscle 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 1977

Authors and Affiliations

  • A. H. Sillau
    • 1
  • Natalio Banchero
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Physiology, Container C240University of Colorado School of MedicineDenverUSA

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