A Tridimensional Study of Microcirculation in Skeletal Muscle

Abstract

The authors used a microcorrosion cast technique to study the microvascular bed of skeletal muscles in the rat. They also tried to clarify the differences, in this respect, between fast twitch and slow twitch muscles. For this purpose they studied as fast twitch muscles, the tibialis anterior muscle and the pectineus muscle and, as a slow twitch mus cle, the soleus muscle. Thanks to the peculiar technique used, they were able to distinguish differ ent sections of the microvascular bed. They also found astonishing differences between the capillary networks in the soleus and tibialis anterior muscles, on the original bases of peculiar charac teristics of the capillary network in the soleus.