Capillary tortuosity in skeletal muscles of mammals depends on muscle contraction.

Capillary orientation (anisotropy) was compared in hindlimb muscles of mammals of different size and/or different aerobic capacity (dog, goat, pony, and calf). All muscles were fixed by vascular perfusion at sarcomere lengths ranging from 1.5 to 2.7 micron. The ratios of capillary counts per fiber cross-sectional area on two sets of sections (0 and 90 degrees) to the muscle fiber axis were used to estimate capillary anisotropy and the coefficient c(K,0) relating 1) capillary counts on transverse sections (a commonly used parameter to assess muscle capillarity) and 2) capillary length per volume of fiber (i.e., capillary length density). Capillary orientation parallel to the muscle fiber axis decreased substantially with muscle fiber shortening. In muscles fixed at sarcomere lengths of 2.69 microns (dog vastus intermedius) and 1.52 microns (dog gastrocnemius), capillary tortuosity and branching added 7 and 64%, respectively, to capillary length density. The data obtained in this study are highly consistent with the previously demonstrated relationship between capillary anisotropy and sarcomere length in extended vs. contracted rat muscles, by use of the same method. Capillary anisotropy in mammalian locomotory muscles is curvilinearly related to sarcomere length. No systematic difference was found in capillary tortuosity with either body size, athletic ability, or aerobic capacity. Capillary tortuosity is a consequence of fiber shortening rather than an indicator of the O2 requirements of the tissue.