Regulation of ventilatory muscle blood flow

The ventilatory muscles perform various functions such as ventilation of the lungs, postural stabilization, and expulsive maneuvers (e.g., coughing). They are classified in functional terms as inspiratory muscles, which include the diaphragm, parasternal intercostal, external intercostal, scalene, and sternocleidomastoid muscles; and expiratory muscles, which include the abdominal muscles, internal intercostal, and triangularis sterni. The ventilatory muscles require high-energy phosphate compounds such as ATP to fuel the biochemical and physical processes of contraction and relaxation. Maintaining adequate intracellular concentrations of these compounds depends on adequate intracellular substrate levels and delivery of these substrates by arterial blood flow. In addition to the delivery of substrates, blood flow influences muscle function through the removal of metabolic by-products, which, if accumulated, could exert negative effects on several excitatory and contractile processes. Skeletal muscle substrate utilization is also dependent on the ability to extract substrates from arterial blood, which, in turn, is accomplished by increasing the total number of perfused capillaries. It follows that matching perfusion to metabolic demands is critical for the maintenance of normal muscle contractile function. In this article, I review the factors that influence ventilatory muscle blood flow. Major emphasis is placed on the diaphragm because a large number of published reports deal with diaphragmatic blood flow. The second reason for focusing on the diaphragm is because it is the largest and most important inspiratory muscle.