Microvascular regulation of muscle metabolism

Nutrient and hormone delivery to skeletal muscle plays a major role in the regulation of metabolism of this tissue. Compromised perfusion, leading to the exclusion of single capillaries or groups of capillaries, can result from the inability of the cardiovascular system to maintain adequate total blood flow. Recent new data, however, indicate that nutrient delivery to skeletal muscle may not simply equate to total blood flow, but the partitioning between two circulatory systems, nutritive and non-nutritive, associated with each muscle. A number of hormones and neural mechanisms have now been identified that control the proportion of nutritive to non-nutritive flow. In addition, muscle metabolism and contractile performance have been shown to correlate with the extent of nutritive flow and inversely with non-nutritive flow, where the latter occurs in closely associated connective tissue. This review presents some of the evidence supporting the dual circulatory system model of muscle and the implications it may have in the management and treatment of patients subjected to shock, trauma, heart failure and long periods of immobilization.