title: The Morphological Changes in the Capillary Architecture of the Tibial Nerve Associated with Spontaneous Aging and Aerobic Exercise Intervention during Aging in Rats.
abstract: [Purpose] Peripheral nerve degradation associated with aging is linked to failure of interactions in capillary metabolism. The aim of this study was to morphologically investigate the age-related changes in the capillary architecture of the tibial nerve in spontaneous aging and with aerobic exercise intervention in rats. [Subjects] Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=15) were used in the present study. [Methods] The rats were divided into control (Cont, n=5), elderly (Elder, n=5), and elderly with aerobic exercise (Elder+Ex, n=5) groups. Aerobic training of low intensity was performed for 10 weeks using a treadmill starting at 96 weeks of age by the Elder+Ex group. The capillary diameter, cross-sectional area and number of microvascular ramifications in the tibial nerve were compared among the Cont (20-week-old), Elder (106-week-old) and Elder+Ex groups using three-dimensional images gained from confocal laser scanning microscopy. [Results] The capillary diameter, cross-sectional area and number of microvascular ramifications in the Elder group were significantly smaller than those observed in the Cont and Elder+Ex groups. [Conclusion] These findings suggest that the capillaries in the peripheral nerve degrade with spontaneous aging and that aerobic exercise of low intensity promotes angiogenesis, and protects the capillary from oxidative stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kyoto Tachibana University, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakita
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kyoto Tachibana University, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kyoto Tachibana University, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidemi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujino
keywords: Capillary; Three-dimensional image; Tibial nerve