[Effect of long-term arterial hypotension on the relative volume of functioning capillaries in working skeletal...

In control rats, the relative red cell volume, mirroring the number of the functioning capillaries, was substantially greater in the soleus than in the gastrocnemius muscle, while the rise of this parameter seen during contraction of both the muscles, provoked by stimulation of the sciatic nerve, amounted to 37 and 54%, respectively. Fourteen days and 3-4 months after abdominal aorta constriction by a metal spiral, that produced a 30-50% lowering of the blood pressure in the vessels of the animal's body posterior, contractions of the gastrocnemius muscle did not provoke any increase in the relative red cell volume, whereas contractions of the soleus muscle were accompanied by a marked elevation of the relative red cell volume. It is assumed that the mechanisms underlying the working hyperemia of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles are different.