Are angiogenic stimuli additive? A study in the rat correlating structure and function

Abstract

The aim of this study was to elucidate whether two different types of angiogenic stimuli, known to elicit two fundamentally different types of angiogenesis in rat hindlimb skeletal muscle, produce an additive effect when applied simultaneously. When administered in drinking water, the α-1 adrenoreceptor antagonist, prazosin, elevates shear stress causing splitting angiogenesis in extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle; surgical extirpation of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle, a synergist, induces sprouting angiogenesis in EDL muscle due to overload. We used an in vivo rat preparation to investigate how functional readouts of EDL muscle performance and hindlimb blood flow, upon indirect electrical stimulation of the common peroneal nerve, were changed, if at all, once these different types of angiogenesis had been induced. Muscle samples were analysed for structural changes and correlated with function changes, for each treatment group.