Microcirculatory changes in cremaster muscle during early spontaneous hypertension in the rat

The microcirculatory control of flow was studied in the cremaster muscle of 5- to 6-week-old spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) using intravital microscopic techniques. Arterioles were classified according to a functional branching order from A1-A4 vessels. Capillary architecture was measured in a separate series of experiments. No significant differences were found in the WKY or SHR vessel diameters, with the exception of third-order arterioles, which were slightly, but significantly, larger in SHR. However, the number of A3 and A4 vessels as well as the capillary density was significantly lower in SHR than in WKY. The differences were even more pronounced during maximal vasodilation induced by local application of 10(-3) mol/l adenosine. The data show that rarefaction of small blood vessels rather than decreased arteriolar diameter is an early characteristic of spontaneous hypertension in the rat.