Dependence of reactive hyperemia in skeletal muscle on oxygen tension

Red blood cell velocity was measured in capillaries of the rabbit tenuissimus muscle during exposure to a low-oxygen-tension (PO2 = 5 mmHg) and a high-oxygen-tension (room-air PO2 = 150 mmHg) suffusion solution. Control capillary red blood cell velocity was significantly reduced (44%) by elevating the suffusion solution PO2 from 5 to 150 mmHg. The reactive hyperemias that occurred after a 120-s aortic occlusion under these two conditions were compared. The mean RBC velocity during the hyperemia in the 1st min following the removal of occlusion was significantly reduced by increasing oxygen tension, as was the duration of the hyperemia. Peak capillary red blood cell velocities in the hyperemic phase during exposures to low and high PO2 were not significantly different. It can be concluded from this study that although oxygen tension does affect postocclusive reactive hyperemia, other factors such as myogenically induced vascular relaxation also contribute to the production of this phenomenon.