Changes in microcirculation after ischemic process in rat skeletal muscle

Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) is a good method to investigate tissue microcirculation, but it has many standardization and measuring problems. To exclude these effects, we performed a test using LDF on rat skeletal muscle. In 12 CD outbred anesthetized rats, bilateral femoral vessels and the quadriceps femoris muscle were exposed. The left femoral artery and vein were clamped for 1 h by microvascular clips (ischemic side). On the right side, no other intervention was made (control side). An LDF probe was applied on the medial vastus muscle. Short-term occlusions (2-3 s) were performed before and after the 1-h clamping and on the control side while LDF curves were registered. The halftimes of ascending curves on the ischemic side were significantly elongated vs. the condition before clamping (P = 0.0007) or the control side (P = 0.0017). Microcirculatory changes caused by 1-h ischemia were shown by this simple, quick, and well-reproducible test on rat skeletal muscle.