title: Effect of intensive walking exercise on skeletal muscle blood flow in intermittent claudication.
abstract: Walking exercise is generally accepted as a valid therapeutic regimen in the treatment of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) of Fontaine stage II. In order to quantify the effect of walking exercise and/or drug therapy on regional muscular blood flow, PAOD Fontaine stage II was induced by multiple ligations of the femoral artery and of all side branches in one hindlimb of mongrel dogs; the contralateral extremity served as control. The animals underwent walking exercise with increasing intensities on a treadmill five days per week over one year; one group received 600 mg buflomedil (BF) per day orally in addition. At the end of the training period, the regional blood flow in all skeletal muscles of both hindlimbs was quantified by means of 15 microns radioactively labeled microspheres at resting conditions, after treadmill exercise (ten minutes) with or without preinjection of BF (3 mg/kg body weight) into the abdominal aorta. At resting condition and at the end of treadmill exercise the regional muscular blood flow did not differ significantly between the diseased and control extremity. Supplementary oral treatment with BF over one year had no significant effect; the increase in muscular blood flow during treadmill exercise was not enhanced after intra-aortic injection of BF. Consequently walking exercise has the potential to increase the functional capacity of collaterals in intermittent claudication and to restore blood supply to skeletal muscle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kreimeier
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Messmer
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004285:Dogs; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D009132:Muscles / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000187:drug effects; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013997:Time Factors; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016138:Walking
chemical_list: D011759:Pyrrolidines; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; C010651:buflomedil