The microvasculature in skeletal muscle. III. Venous network anatomy in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats.
A quantitative description of the anatomical arrangement of venules in the spinotrapezius muscle of mature (12-15 week old) Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) is provided. In both strains, asymmetric, dichotomous collecting venule trees route blood from the capillaries to a network of interconnected or arcade venules which spans the entire muscle. The arcade network is drained of blood through several draining venules which exit the muscle. A new branching scheme is proposed for the venular microvascular network. Comparison of WKY and SHR values shows that the arcade venules in the WKY are, on the average, narrower. Conversely, SHR postcapillary vessels are narrower than those in the WKY. Aside from these differences, however, the venular microvasculature and network pattern in the two strains is similar.
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology*; D009132:Muscles / Q000098:blood supply*; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D014699:Venules / Q000473:pathology