Maintenance of heterogeneity of capillary spacing is essential for adequate oxygenation in the soleus muscle of the growing rat.

Objectives: Normal muscle growth is accompanied by capillary proliferation, which usually lags behind the increase in muscle size, causing a decline in mean capillary density (CD). It is not known, however, how the capillary distribution is affected and what impact it has on the oxygenation of the muscle.

Methods: The capillarization of soleus muscles of rats (64-425 g) was determined with the method of capillary domains.

Oxygen diffusion coefficient and oxygen permeability of metmyoglobin solutions determined in a diffusion chamber using a non-steady state method.

Non-steady state measurements of oxygen diffusion through various model layers can be performed using a diffusion chamber that was described earlier [1, 2]. A closer analysis of these measurements showed that they not only yield the oxygen diffusion coefficient (DO2) of the diffusion layer, but also the oxygen permeability (PO2). In this study DO2 and PO2 have been determined in solutions of metmyoglobin (metMb) with concentrations varying between 5 and 40 g/dL at 25 degrees C.