The myocardial capillary vasculature in repeated physical exercise. An experimental investigation in the rat.
The neoformation of myocardial blood capillaries was investigated on cardiac autoradiograms from 3H-thymidine injected rats that had been swimming-exercised for two weeks, rats that had been resting for three months following the exercise, and rats in which the rest had been followed by a second two-weeks period of exercise. The initial period of exercise induced a signficant capillary neoformation in the hearts. The newly-formed vasculature was found of functional significance still at the end of the resting period and available for the increased demands on the myocardial vasculature when the exercise was resumed.
D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D001835:Body Weight; D002196:Capillaries / Q000502:physiology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008833:Microcirculation; D009929:Organ Size; D005082:Physical Exertion; D051381:Rats