scholarly journals Effects of aging and exercise training on skeletal muscle blood flow and resistance artery morphology

2012 ◽  
Vol 113 (11) ◽  
pp. 1699-1708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley J. Behnke ◽  
Michael W. Ramsey ◽  
John N. Stabley ◽  
James M. Dominguez ◽  
Robert T. Davis ◽  
...  

With old age, blood flow to the high-oxidative red skeletal muscle is reduced and blood flow to the low-oxidative white muscle is elevated during exercise. Changes in the number of feed arteries perforating the muscle are thought to contribute to this altered hyperemic response during exercise. We tested the hypothesis that exercise training would ameliorate age-related differences in blood flow during exercise and feed artery structure in skeletal muscle. Young (6–7 mo old, n = 36) and old (24 mo old, n = 25) male Fischer 344 rats were divided into young sedentary (Sed), old Sed, young exercise-trained (ET), and old ET groups, where training consisted of 10–12 wk of treadmill exercise. In Sed and ET rats, blood flow to the red and white portions of the gastrocnemius muscle (GastRed and GastWhite) and the number and luminal cross-sectional area (CSA) of all feed arteries perforating the muscle were measured at rest and during exercise. In the old ET group, blood flow was greater to GastRed (264 ± 13 and 195 ± 9 ml·min−1·100 g−1 in old ET and old Sed, respectively) and lower to GastWhite (78 ± 5 and 120 ± 6 ml·min−1·100 g−1 in old ET and old Sed, respectively) than in the old Sed group. There was no difference in the number of feed arteries between the old ET and old Sed group, although the CSA of feed arteries from old ET rats was larger. In young ET rats, there was an increase in the number of feed arteries perforating the muscle. Exercise training mitigated old age-associated differences in blood flow during exercise within gastrocnemius muscle. However, training-induced adaptations in resistance artery morphology differed between young (increase in feed artery number) and old (increase in artery CSA) animals. The altered blood flow pattern induced by exercise training with old age would improve the local matching of O2 delivery to consumption within the skeletal muscle.

2005 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 753-761 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. McAllister ◽  
J. L. Jasperse ◽  
M. H. Laughlin

Endurance exercise training (Ex) has been shown to increase maximal skeletal muscle blood flow. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that increased endothelium-dependent vasodilation is associated with the Ex-induced increase in muscle blood flow. Furthermore, we hypothesized that enhanced endothelium-dependent dilation is confined to vessels in high-oxidative muscles that are recruited during Ex. To test these hypotheses, sedentary (Sed) and rats that underwent Ex (30 m/min × 10% grade, 60 min/day, 5 days/wk, 8–12 wk) were studied using three experimental approaches. Training effectiveness was evidenced by increased citrate synthase activity in soleus and vastus lateralis (red section) muscles ( P < 0.05). Vasodilatory responses to the endothelium-dependent agent acetylcholine (ACh) in situ tended to be augmented by training in the red section of gastrocnemius muscle (RG; Sed: control, 0.69 ± 0.12; ACh, 1.25 ± 0.15; Ex: control, 0.86 ± 0.17; ACh, 1.76 ± 0.27 ml·min−1·100 g−1·mmHg−1; 0.05 < P < 0.10 for Ex vs. Sed during ACh). Responses to ACh in situ did not differ between Sed and Ex for either the soleus muscle or white section of gastrocnemius muscle (WG). Dilatory responses of second-order arterioles from the RG in vitro to flow (4–8 μl/min) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 10−7 through10−4 M), but not ACh, were augmented in Ex (vs. Sed; P < 0.05). Dilatory responses to ACh, flow, and SNP of arterioles from soleus and WG muscles did not differ between Sed and Ex. Content of the endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) was increased in second-order, fourth-order, and fifth-order arterioles from the RG of Ex; eNOS content was similar between Sed and Ex in vessels from the soleus and WG muscles. These findings indicate that Ex induces endothelial adaptations in fast-twitch, oxidative, glycolytic skeletal muscle. These adaptations may contribute to enhanced skeletal muscle blood flow in endurance-trained individuals.


2014 ◽  
Vol 307 (4) ◽  
pp. H524-H532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin D. La Favor ◽  
Raymond M. Kraus ◽  
Jonathan A. Carrithers ◽  
Steven L. Roseno ◽  
Timothy P. Gavin ◽  
...  

The incidence of cardiovascular disease increases progressively with age, but aging may affect men and women differently. Age-associated changes in vascular structure and function may manifest in impaired nutritive blood flow, although the regulation of nutritive blood flow in healthy aging is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine if nitric oxide (NO)-mediated or α-adrenergic-mediated regulation of nutritive skeletal muscle blood flow is impaired with advanced age, and if exercise training improves age-related deficiencies. Nutritive blood flow was monitored in the vastus lateralis of healthy young and aged men and women via the microdialysis-ethanol technique prior to and following seven consecutive days of exercise training. NO-mediated and α-adrenergic-mediated regulation of nutritive blood flow was assessed by microdialysis perfusion of acetylcholine, sodium nitroprusside, NG-monomethyl-l-arginine, norepinephrine, or phentolamine. Pretraining nutritive blood flow was attenuated in aged compared with young women (7.39 ± 1.5 vs. 15.5 ± 1.9 ml·100 g−1·min−1, P = 0.018), but not aged men (aged 13.5 ± 3.7 vs. young 9.4 ± 1.3 ml·100 g−1·min−1, P = 0.747). There were no age-associated differences in NO-mediated or α-adrenergic-mediated nutritive blood flow. Exercise training increased resting nutritive blood flow only in young men (9.4 ± 1.3 vs. 19.7 ml·100 g−1·min−1, P = 0.005). The vasodilatory effect of phentolamine was significantly reduced following exercise training only in young men (12.3 ± 6.14 vs. −3.68 ± 3.26 ml·100 g−1·min−1, P = 0.048). In conclusion, the age-associated attenuation of resting nutritive skeletal muscle blood flow was specific to women, while the exercise-induced alleviation of α-adrenergic mediated vasoconstriction that was specific to young men suggests an age-associated modulation of the sympathetic response to exercise training.


2005 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Gregory ◽  
M. N. Deane ◽  
M. Marsh

Objective: The precise mechanisms by which massage promotes repair in injured soft tissue are unknown. Various authorshave attributed the beneficial effects of massage to vasodilation and increased skin and muscle blood flow. The aim of this study was to determine whether deep transverse friction massage (DTF) causes capillary vasodilation in untraumatised skeletal muscle. Setting: Academic institution.Interventions: Twelve New Zealand white rabbits were anaesthetised and the left biceps femoris muscle received 10 minutes of DTF. Following treatment, wedge biopsies were taken from the musclewithin 10 minutes of treatment (R1 - 4), 24 hours (R5 - 8) and 6 days(R9 - 12) after treatment. To serve as controls, similar biopsies weretaken from the right biceps femoris of animals. The samples were fixed, dehydrated and embedded in epoxy resin.Transverse sections (1µm) of muscle were cut, stained with 1% aqueous alkaline toluidine blue and examined with a light microscope using a 40X objective. Images containing capillaries were captured using an image analyser with SIS software and the cross sectional diameters of at least 60 capillaries were measured from each specimen. Main Outcome Measures: Changes in capillary diameter. Results: The mean capillary diameters in control muscle averaged 4.76 µm. DTF caused a significant immediate increase of 17.3% in cross sectional area (p<0.001), which was not significantly increased by 10.0% after 24 hours (p>0.05). Six days after treatment the cross-sectional area of the treated muscle was 7.6% smaller than the controls. Conclusions: This confirms the contention that DTF stimulates muscle blood flow immediately after treatment and this may account for its beneficial effects in certain conditions. 


2004 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 764-772 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jefferson C. Frisbee

The present study tested the hypothesis that enhanced vascular α-adrenergic constriction in obese Zucker rats (OZR) impairs arteriolar dilation and perfusion of skeletal muscle at rest and with increased metabolic demand. In lean Zucker rats (LZR) and OZR, isolated gracilis arterioles were viewed via television microscopy, and the contralateral cremaster muscle or gastrocnemius muscle was prepared for study in situ. Gracilis and cremasteric arterioles were challenged with dilator stimuli under control conditions and after blockade of α-adrenoreceptors with prazosin, phentolamine, or yohimbine. Gastrocnemius muscles performed isometric twitch contractions of increasing frequency, and perfusion was continuously monitored. In OZR, dilator responses of arterioles to hypoxia (gracilis), wall shear rate (cremaster), acetylcholine, and iloprost (both) were impaired vs. LZR. Treatment with prazosin and phentolamine (and in cremasteric arterioles only, yohimbine) improved arteriolar reactivity to these stimuli in OZR, although responses remained impaired vs. LZR. Gastrocnemius muscle blood flow was reduced at rest in OZR; this was corrected with intravenous infusion of phentolamine or prazosin. At all contraction frequencies, blood flow was reduced in OZR vs. LZR; this was improved by infusion of phentolamine or prazosin at low-moderate metabolic demand only (1 and 3 Hz). At 5 Hz, adrenoreceptor blockade did not alter blood flow in OZR from levels in untreated rats. These results suggest that enhanced α-adrenergic constriction of arterioles of OZR contributes to impaired dilator responses and reduced muscle blood flow at rest and with mild-moderate (although not with large) elevations in metabolic demand.


1995 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 638-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Hickner ◽  
U. Ekelund ◽  
S. Mellander ◽  
U. Ungerstedt ◽  
J. Henriksson

A quantitative validation of the microdialysis ethanol technique was performed in cat gastrocnemius muscle. Six to eight microdialysis probes were inserted into the isolated muscle preparation and perfused (0.5–10.0 microliters/min) with Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing between 5 and 1,000 mmol/l ethanol. Skeletal muscle blood flow was held constant in the range of 4–99 ml.100 g-1.min-1 by a servo-controlled roller pump and was determined with the microdialysis ethanol technique as well as by timed collection of venous outflow. The ethanol concentration outflow-to-inflow ratio ([ethanol]collected dialysate/[ethanol]infused perfusion medium) decreased in a nonlinear fashion when microdialysis perfusion flow rates of 0.5 and 1.0 microliter/min were employed. However, a linear decrease was found between 4 and approximately 45 ml.100 g-1.min-1 (r = -0.92 to -0.99). The lower outflow-to-inflow ratio was at 4 ml.100 g-1.min-1 (i.e., due to a low probe perfusion flow rate or a large dialysis membrane), the greater the sensitivity of the method was. It is concluded that this nonradioactive technique provides a simple and valid method for determining nutritive blood flow in skeletal muscle.


2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 1033-1047 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaume Padilla ◽  
Nathan T. Jenkins ◽  
Pamela K. Thorne ◽  
Jeffrey S. Martin ◽  
R. Scott Rector ◽  
...  

We employed next-generation RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology to determine the extent to which exercise training alters global gene expression in skeletal muscle feed arteries and aortic endothelial cells of obese Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats. Transcriptional profiles of the soleus and gastrocnemius muscle feed arteries (SFA and GFA, respectively) and aortic endothelial cell-enriched samples from rats that underwent an endurance exercise training program (EndEx; n = 12) or a interval sprint training program (IST; n = 12) or remained sedentary (Sed; n = 12) were examined. In response to EndEx, there were 39 upregulated (e.g., MANF) and 20 downregulated (e.g., ALOX15) genes in SFA and 1 upregulated (i.e., Wisp2) and 1 downregulated (i.e., Crem) gene in GFA [false discovery rate (FDR) < 10%]. In response to IST, there were 305 upregulated (e.g., MANF, HSPA12B) and 324 downregulated genes in SFA and 101 upregulated and 66 downregulated genes in GFA, with an overlap of 32 genes between arteries. Furthermore, in aortic endothelial cells, there were 183 upregulated (e.g., eNOS, SOD-3) and 141 downregulated (e.g., ATF3, Clec1b, npy, leptin) genes with EndEx and 71 upregulated and 69 downregulated genes with IST, with an overlap of 35 between exercise programs. Expression of only two genes (Tubb2b and Slc9a3r2) was altered (i.e., increased) by exercise in all three arteries. The finding that both EndEx and IST produced greater transcriptional changes in the SFA compared with the GFA is intriguing when considering the fact that treadmill bouts of exercise are associated with greater relative increases in blood flow to the gastrocnemius muscle compared with the soleus muscle.


2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald L. Terjung ◽  
Ryszard Zarzeczny ◽  
H.T. Yang

Skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity (mito), tissue blood flow (BF) capacity, and oxygen exchange capacity (e.g., DO2) appear to be well matched. The different skeletal muscle fiber types and muscle remodeled, due to inactivity >(e.g., related to aging or disease) or exercise training, exhibit widely differing aerobics capacities (V̇O2max). Yet, there are remarkably coordinated alterations in these 3 parameters in each of these conditions. With such a balance, there is likely shared control among these parameters in limiting (V̇O2max) of muscle, although this is a matter of considerable debate. The reduction in aerobic capacity in elderly can be improved by submaximal aerobic exercise training; this is related to increases in muscle mitochondria concentration and capillarity, but probably not BF capacity, as this is limited by central cardiovascular function. Thus, exercise-induced biochemical adaptations and angiogenesis occur in the elderly. The increase in muscle capillarity likely contributes to the increased oxygen exchange capacity, typical of endurance type training. The increase in [mito] appears essential to realize the increased in muscle V̇O2max with training and amplifies the rate-limiting influence of the muscle’s oxygen exchange capacity. Further, vascular remodeling induced by exercise in the elderly could be effective at improving flow capacity, if limited by peripheral obstruction. Thus, the limits to aerobic function specific to aged muscle appear most influenced by inactivity, whereas central cardiovascular changes impact whole body performance. Some may consider the aged myocyte as a small, inactive, normal myocyte in need of activity!


2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 461-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl E. King-VanVlack ◽  
J. D. Mewburn ◽  
C. K. Chapler ◽  
P. H. MacDonald

In the present study, we determined whether endothelin (ET)-1 contributed to the observed reduction in muscle blood flow (Q˙) during contractions with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition and whether muscle O2 uptake (V˙o 2) would be affected by the decrease in muscle Q˙ with NOS inhibition at different contraction intensities. Muscle Q˙,V˙o 2, O2 extraction ratio (OER), and tension development (TD) were studied in the in situ gastrocnemius muscle preparation in anesthetized dogs. A decrease in the V˙o 2-to-TD ratio (V˙o 2/TD) was used as an indicator of O2 limitation. Three contraction protocols were used: 1) isometric twitch contractions at 2 twitches (tw)/s, 2) the same contractions at 4 tw/s, and 3) pretreatment with an ETA-receptor antagonist (BQ-123) before 2 tw/s contractions. The muscle was stimulated to contract, and measures were obtained at steady state (∼5–8 min). NOS inhibition ( N ω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester) was then induced, and measures were repeated at 2, 5, 10, and 15 min. During 2 tw/s contractions, NOS inhibition reduced Q˙with and without ETA-receptor blockade. In both groups, OER increased in response to the fall in Q˙, with the result being no change in V˙o 2/TD. NOS inhibition also decreased Q˙ during 4 tw/s contractions, but OER did not increase, resulting in a reduction inV˙o 2/TD 5 and 15 min after N ω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester. These data indicated that 1) a reciprocal increase in ET-1 during NOS inhibition does not influence active hyperemia in skeletal muscle, and 2) during 4 tw/s contractions, the ischemia with NOS inhibition was associated with either an O2 limitation or an alteration in the efficiency of muscle contractions.


1991 ◽  
Vol 260 (6) ◽  
pp. H1966-H1972 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Wang ◽  
R. L. Prewitt

The purpose of this study was to evaluate microvascular development during normal skeletal muscle maturation and to determine the alterations associated with decreased blood flow caused by a decrease in demand. Unilateral orchidectomy was performed on 4-wk-old rats to reduce muscle tension and growth of one cremaster muscle. Three weeks later, total blood flow was reduced to 58 +/- 9% measured by the dual-slit velocity technique and 55 +/- 9% by radioactive microspheres, and the muscle was smaller when compared with the intact contralateral muscle. Blood flow per gram of tissue was not significantly different. Measured by closed-circuit television microscopy, the internal diameters and wall cross-sectional areas of all orders of arterioles (1A-4A), and the number of 4As per 3A had increased with age in the control muscle. The arcading arterioles increased in length by 35% as the intact muscle grew, but the number of 3As remained unchanged. Arteriolar length increased but not in proportion to muscle mass. As a result, large and small arteriolar density decreased with age. Thus, during normal skeletal muscle maturation, preexisting arterioles became elongated and only precapillary arterioles increased in number, resulting in a decreased ratio of arteriolar number to tissue mass. Unilateral orchidectomy inhibited the growth of arterioles in both size and number. A reduced diameter of the 1A in the orchidectomy muscle resulted in unchanged wall shear rate. Flow-induced shear stress and/or local changes in growth factors are suggested as possible mechanisms mediating the alterations.


Author(s):  
Darren S DeLorey

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is a critically important regulator of the cardiovascular system. The SNS controls cardiac output and its distribution, as well as peripheral vascular resistance and blood pressure at rest and during exercise. Aging is associated with increased blood pressure and decreased skeletal muscle blood flow at rest and in response to exercise. The mechanisms responsible for the blunted skeletal muscle blood flow response to dynamic exercise with aging have not been fully elucidated; however, increased muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), elevated vascular resistance and a decline in endothelium-dependent vasodilation are commonly reported in older adults. In contrast to aging, exercise training has been shown to reduce blood pressure and enhance skeletal muscle vascular function. Exercise training has been shown to enhance nitric oxide-dependent vascular function and may improve the vasodilatory capacity of the skeletal muscle vasculature; however, surprisingly little is known about the effect of exercise training on the neural control of circulation. The control of blood pressure and skeletal muscle blood flow also differs between males and females. Blood pressure and MSNA appear to be lower in young females compared to males. However, females experience a larger increase in MSNA with aging compared to males. The mechanism(s) for the altered SNS control of vascular function in females remain to be determined. Novelty: • This review will summarize our current understanding of the effects of aging, exercise training and sex on sympathetic vasoconstriction at rest and during exercise. • Areas where additional research is needed are also identified.


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