title: Effect of ageing and malnutrition on rat myocardium. II. The microvasculature.
abstract: The modulating effects of ageing and malnutrition on rat myocardium were studied morphometrically with respect to the microvasculature. An increase in capillary density together with a decrease in capillary lumen cross-sectional area was noted during starvation. The important changes seen in the myocyte T-system were paralleled by a decreased diffusion distance for oxygen from the capillary lumen to the mitochondrion. The changes described in the aged rat heart point to an altered inter-relationship between parenchyma and vascularization with a lower capillary volume fraction and a greater diffusion distance from the capillary lumen to the mitochondrion; this is caused by hypertrophy of the aged myocyte. This reduction in capacity to exchange substrates is further reduced by the less developed T-system in the older myocyte.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, University of Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Vandewoude
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Buyssens
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D002196:Capillaries / Q000473:pathology; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D005260:Female; D008833:Microcirculation; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar