Microvascular pressures and filtration coefficients in the cat mesentery

1. Filtration coefficient and hydrostatic pressure have been measured in single capillaries and venules in the cat mesentery using a modification of the Landis (1927) single vessel occlusion technique. 2. Venules were found to be filtering fluid, not absorbing it as is often supposed. 3. The mean filtration coefficient in capillaries was 0.018 micrometers . s-1 . mmHg-1 (1.35 X 10(-10)m . s-1 . Pa-1) while that in venules, was 0.027 micrometers . s-1 . mmHg-1 (2.02 X 10(-10)m . s-1 . Pa-1). 4. In both capillaries and venules, filtration coefficient increased with decreasing pressure. 5. The difference between directly measured venular pressure and that calculated from the occlusion data was used to determine the contribution of the interstitium to fluid exchange. In the mesentery superfused with Krebs solution the tissue pressure so determined was found to be zero or subatmospheric initially but became increasingly positive with lengthening exposure of the mesentery.