Distribution of capillaries in normal and ischemic turkey skeletal muscle

Capillary to fiber relationship was studied in musculi biceps femoris and musculi pectoralis thoracicus from 20 normal and 10 ischemic turkeys. Capillary density, the number of capillaries surrounding a fiber, capillary to fiber ratio, intercapillary distance, and fiber area were measured. The muscles from the ischemic group had significantly lower (P less than .05) values for capillary density and capillary to fiber ratio and significantly higher intercapillary distance than those from the normal group. There was no evidence of larger muscle fiber size in the ischemic versus normal birds. It is suggested that the occurrence of muscle ischemia in the domestic turkey is due to alterations in capillarity and reduced vasodilatation, resulting from lack of exercise.