Circulatory system in chicken skeletal muscle in the second half of embryogenesis: Shape, blood flow, and vascular reactivity

A restructuring of the capillary bed-from the embryonic structure with a three-dimensional network of wide and long protocapillaries to the mature structure with high density of thin and short capillaries along the fibers-has been demonstrated in the chick skeletal muscle on embryonic days 10-19 by morphometric analysis. In this case, the specific blood flow and capillary luminal area per cm(3) of the muscle remained unaltered, while the blood volume in it significantly dropped. The response of muscle circulation to nitroprusside (increase) and noradrenaline (decrease) appeared in 19-day-old embryos, but this response could develop only under conditions of initially low or high blood flow, respectively. We propose that the arterial trunk lumen area to the total capillary lumen area remains constant as the intraorganic circulation is formed, which provides for the required linear blood velocity in capillaries.