Local oxygen supply and blood flow regulation in contracting muscle in dogs and rabbits.

1. Multiwire surface electrodes were used to measure local hydrogen clearance curves and tissues PO2 in the sartorius muscle in dogs under resting conditions and during stimulation of the muscle at 1, 2, 4, 8 and 20 Hz via the femoral nerve. Tissue oxygen supply was assessed by means of PO2 histograms; evaluation of the initial slopes of the hydrogen clearance curves enabled the measurement of capillary blood flow. 2. In a further model, the analysis of hydrogen clearance curves measured in the femoral vein using intravascular needle electrodes in rabbits enabled the distribution of blood flow to be evaluated both under resting conditions and during direct 2 Hz stimulation of the vastus medialis muscle. 3. Increased oxygen consumption, induced by stimulation, caused increases in capillary flow which were not necessarily accompanied by augmentation of femoral artery flow. 4. PO2 histograms provided no evidence of cellular anoxia even at the maximum level of oxygen consumption. 5. A two-compartment distribution of flow was measured under resting conditions, whereas only one compartment could be resolved during 2 Hz stimulation of the vastus medialis muscle in the rabbit experiments. A clear redistribution of flow was observed in the absence of any increase in total flow. 6. A model for oxygen-dependent regulation of capillary blood flow involving high-flow and normal-flow compartments is proposed.