title: A new approach to intravital videomicroscopy of rat spinotrapezius muscle.
abstract: A modified preparation of the rat spinotrapezius muscle is described in which optimal conditions for intravital microscopy can be achieved while the supplying blood vessels are left fully intact, and mechanical stress to the muscle during preparation is reduced to an unavoidable minimum. The viability of the preparation is demonstrated using the response of arterial microvessels to endothelium-dependent and -independent dilators and to changes of ambient PO2, the presence of spontaneous vasomotion, and histochemical analysis of pertinent enzyme systems. The preparation is viable for much longer experimental time periods (up to 10 hours) than reported previously, provided the intensity of illumination is kept at a very low level. If the latter prerequisite is met, tissue edema, maximal vasodilation, and the associated loss of responsiveness to vasoactive stimuli of arterioles is reliably avoided.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Physiology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Klotz
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pries
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jepsen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gossrau
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gaehtgens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001160:Arterioles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000187:drug effects; D008853:Microscopy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008931:Mitochondria, Muscle / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D009132:Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply / Q000201:enzymology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012518:Sarcomeres / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013997:Time Factors; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D014743:Videotape Recording / Q000295:instrumentation
chemical_list: D009124:Muscle Proteins; D014665:Vasodilator Agents