ISSN:
1600-0838
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
,
Sports Science
Notes:
Capillary morphometries in human skeletal muscle has been limited by technical problems in visualization. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for identifying capillary endothelium at the light level of resolution and to reassess the skeletal muscle capillarity in trained and untrained subjects. A lectin system of biotinylated Ulex europaeus I (UEA-I), a vascular endothelial marker, provided a stain dense enough for direct computer-aided image analysis. A morphometric comparison was made between Andersen's periodic acid-Schiff and the UEA-I capillary stains on tissue sections of human skeletal muscle. When identical fibers from adjacent sections were compared, the capillary density was 6% and cap fiber was 9% greater using die lectin method. Biopsies from 17 cross-country skiers were compared with those of 8 age-matched sedentary controls. The capillary density in the triceps muscle for the skiers was 536.1 ± 33.1 compared with 296 ± 17.7 for the controls. Longitudinal profiles that appear in skeletal muscle cross-sections suggest a more isotropic (random orientation) configuration of the capillary bed than proposed by the Krogh model. There were 50.6% more longitudinal profiles in the trained samples. The UEA-I lectin appears to be a valid and potentially useful marker for computerized image analysis of non-pathological vascular endothelium, and tie differences in capillarity between trained and untrained individuals may be greater than previously reported.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.1993.tb00385.x
Permalink
